Dear Diary
by motherafrica
Summary: Dear diary: Her name is Misaki Uchiha. She loves dancing, her dead brother and hanging out with her friends and her boyfriend Itachi Uchiha. Lately she wondered why her boyfriend Itachi had been acting so strangely for some time now. But little did she know that when he loved her he was also plotting to kill her and their entire clan. This is her story...
1. prologue

**A/N: After this story I will be writing another version of it as I couldn't decide on two endings I wanted about my O.C. That's all!**

**PROLOGUE**

Hello I'm Asuka Sayako and I work for the "Konoha Chronicles" publication as a journalist and writer. For the past few years now, we at the "Konoha Chronicles" publication have been assigned to gather, investigate, research and keep records of the events leading up to the tragic and shocking massacre of one of the most powerful and oldest noble clans to come out of the hidden leaf village-the Uchiha clan. This is for a series of publications on their lives until their deaths, for we are nearing the five-year anniversary here in Konoha of when it happened. The day the world woke up to the news that almost every member of the Uchiha clan had been butchered in a single night.

What was more shocking was that the mass murderer was one of its own sons and arguably one of the most powerful shinobi of the clan from the first Uchiha family; Itachi Uchiha. It should be said that from what I've researched, it is still unknown as to what drove Itachi Uchiha to kill everyone in his clan with the exception of his younger brother who was later discovered lying in a street the next day. He has refused to say why Itachi spared his life but killed the rest of the Uchiha. But he has said that he would one day go and kill his older brother.

On my side however I have focused my work on one of the more other prominent shinobi of the clan; more specifically a young woman named Misaki Uchiha who happened to be the girlfriend of the killer, as I will be publishing a book called 'Dear Diary' based on her own writings in her diary she had kept. I am near publishing my book about Misaki Uchiha in honour of her memory. So nearing the five-year anniversary I have requested the last known survivor of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke Uchiha who personally lost his aunt, uncle and parents Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha, chief of the clan, to read and review the manuscript in memory of his clan. After many attempts and rejection, he finally agreed to read it.

Upon arriving to meet with the young Sasuke who is now thirteen years old and about to graduate from the academy and become a genin, I already notice the tone and mood couldn't be more poignant on us. He feels it too that we're nearing the day his life and Konohagakure's lives changed forever.

So as I meet with the boy at the memorial museum dedicated to his clan in downtown Konoha, I introduce myself to him and he nods his head. I've always understood this young Sasuke to be quite serious unlike other kids his age, but then again they didn't have their childhoods stolen from them. It might be a result of him having to grow up before his time.

I explain to him about this book I've made in a diary format that I've compiled from years of investigation into the massacre all told inside my book from one of the saddest points-Itachi's girlfriend Misaki who was one of the village's most valuable kunoichi of her age and much-loved throughout her community especially among younger kunoichi who aspired to be like her; which was all the more tragic. I don't have to tell him this; I know he knows about her. I think this read is appropriate for him as it's not too personal, like from the point of his parents or doesn't concern him, like someone from his clan he didn't know. I hand Sasuke the manuscript I've been working on for years and he flips the pages and asks a curious question raising his eyebrow at me; one of his well-known broody mannerisms.

"Where did you get the information for the last chapter or day? Nobody was there but the people who were killed. Not to mention the personal accounts of when she was alone" he asks me sceptically. I can see he's doubting the authenticity of my work.

"I have been working tirelessly throughout the five years to gather information about the events leading up to the massacre. I've been working with everyone from forensics in the medical core to the ANBU black ops to countless interviews of Misaki's friends and close people to her to jutsu specialists and beyond who have been able to tell me how events unfolded on that fateful night. Also, Misaki had a habit of writing down her experiences in a diary she kept, which is what the book is based on" I assured him.

I can't exactly tell whether he takes me seriously yet but reading the diary will give him something to believe in, I can tell you that. For now anyway Sasuke opens the book at the very beginning with feelings that we both share… apprehension. If this book doesn't pass the test with the last Uchiha I have access to then no one will take it for what it is. He pauses to take a deep breath before reading the events I documented of the last week of a young woman's life that ended tragically before her time…

Dear Diary:

Her name is Misaki Uchiha. She loves dancing, her dead brother, her proud clan and hanging out with her friends and her boyfriend Itachi Uchiha. Lately she wondered why her boyfriend Itachi was acting so strangely for some time now. But little did she know that when he was busy loving her; he was also plotting to kill her and their entire clan. This is her story...


	2. Day 1 pt1: A regular femme fatale

Day 1 pt. 1: A regular Femme fatale

Six months ago…

_Her mind was a blank; she didn't know what to make of it. All she had heard was that the situation was serious and that the enemy ninja her brother was meant to assassinate was not working alone after all and was no pushover; he had brought allies with him. She knew that poor information gathering before a mission was always to blame. His mission had been upgraded from a 'C rank' to an 'A+ rank' he wasn't prepared for… _

_She ran along with Itachi Uchiha over the thick forest branches of the land of tea until she found a small group of ninja from Konoha surrounding what looked like someone's body in a pool of deep red on the soft grassy floor._

_"Please don't make us too late" she said desperately in her head with her heart beating furiously against her chest that it made her dizzy._

_ She and Itachi jumped down and the Konohan ninjas including those from her brother's own team bowed their heads when she got to them. The expressions on their faces said it all…_

The early morning sun had just peered over the Hokage Mountain promising its usual bright and sunny day in the prosperous leaf village of Konohagakure. Its first rays of light had already beamed through the open window of a home where a young woman was staring outside her bedroom window into a large scale elaborate Japanese garden, symbolic of the clan's power and influence. She was deep in thought as the garden brought back so many memories of her childhood playing with her brother Masahiro. Her honey coloured eyes then rested on his framed photo mounted on a shelf next to her katana and porcelain animal mask on her wall. It was her favourite photo of her jonin big brother smiling from ear to ear with his characteristic messy black hair hanging over his leaf village headband and peace sign he did in every picture taken of him that captivated her. She felt her heart tighten and sink inside as she realised once again that she would never see him again. She carried on staring at the picture until a large iron bell outside the clan walls reverberated its loud ringing to signify a visitor entering the gates of her clan. The Uchiha clan.

The bright eyed eighteen year old Misaki Uchiha snapped out of her thoughts interrupted by the bell and shook the delicate silky strands of her ruler-straight, waist length, jet black hair out of her face. She walked over to the photo of her dead brother and ran her fingertips over the smooth glass of the frame and read the words "_One day is one day_" she had written in so elegantly and calligraphically on the picture. She swore that she'd find the ninja who killed her brother so brutally on a mission six months ago one day… and bring him to justice. She then threw on a specially made navy blue tank top vest with the Uchiha crest on the back over her bra and tied on a few complicated belts and straps around herself but didn't bother to cover up her underwear. Afterwards she walked to the mirror and observed her face before she combed her hair into a long ponytail at the top of her head and braided it down to keep it from falling in her face. Only after tying her now passed brother's leaf village headband on her forehead did she dance out of her room to the kitchen where her o-kasan or mother was preparing to leave the house.

"Hi ma, where you going so early?" she said joyfully dancing up to her mother Reika Uchiha and giving her a big hug and kissing her beloved mother's cheek.

"Oh honey! Still always my dancing Misaki I see. I'm glad you're up 'cause I've got to go into the village to get a few things for the house" she said returning the hug and smiling warmly to her daughter; seeing her mother's kind face always made Misaki feel an undying love for her and the bond only a mother and her daughter could have. She was the light of Misaki's world and her pillar of strength, as their relationship had only grown stronger since her brother's murder.

"Sure you don't want me to get them for you?" she asked as her mother untied her apron strings and took out her shopping basket from the kitchen cupboard.

"Naw I'll be fine, besides I need to get out and take a walk just to feel refreshed and to clear my head"

Misaki let out a long hard breath they both felt her brother's absence as happy as they wanted to be.

"How long has it been now, since Masahiro…" she whispered.

"About six months now, and I've felt each individual day go by without him, one by one" her mother whispered back.

"I had another dream about him and how we found him. I swear that he's haunting me in my sleep" she said pained.

"Don't worry Misaki; it'll get better for all of us eventually"

"I have to say that's it's gotten easier though especially with you supporting me ma" said Misaki meaning every word.

"Bless you Misaki" she said stroking her daughter's hair affectionately. "You can dish out some food from the pot I left when you're hungry"

Misaki was about to thank her mother for making her breakfast but she noticed her father Tsuyoshi Uchiha walked in, ready to go to work at the Konoha military police force just outside the clan walls and looking stern faced as usual. Misaki's mother noticed her daughter's smile disappear when she saw her father.

"Misaki what are you doing walking around here in your underwear? How many times do I have to tell you that that is not the proper way for Uchiha women to present themselves? Go and make yourself decent!" he said walking past her towards the genkan or entrance hall.

"Yes _sir_" she said failing to keep the attitude out of her tone.

"And don't spend the whole day lounging around; you need to keep up your duties as a member of the ANBU whether you have a mission or not" he said stopping to look disapprovingly at her; her attitude didn't go unnoticed by him.

Misaki just rolled her eyes at him behind his back as he bade her and his wife goodbye and left without another word. She breathed a sigh of relief when he left. Her mother shook her head in frustration.

"Misaki could you please try and be patient with your father" she asked softly.

"He's _so_ controlling ma, and he's always telling me what to do; how to be a proper Uchiha by obeying the rules, to train harder than I already do, nothing I ever do is right or good enough for him! He just wants me to be like Masahiro" she whined annoyed that her father had caused her mother to reprimand her.

Her relationship with her father had never been as good as when she was a little girl, but it had worsened with the passing of her brother Masahiro who had been in her eyes, her father's star child. Her father had a way of blaming her for Masahiro's death and continued to push her to the extreme, wanting her to be just as perfect as he was. 'The Uchiha sibling curse' as she called it. Always being expected to be as great as the best sibling.

"That's not true, Misaki, he recognised you both for your individual talents and never compared the two of you. He's just trying to help you achieve your goal. He knows how much it means to you to find the enemy ninja who killed your brother and bring justice to him and he's supporting you in his own way. Please just be patient with him" her mother pleaded. Misaki looked at her mother's pleading expression and gave in.

"No promises but I'll try, just for you" she said trying not to pout mockingly like a child.

"Thank you baby girl, I really appreciate it, I don't want to see the two of you fighting, especially since—" she stopped before she could be overcome with emotion of her son passing.

"I'll see you later" her mother said trying to blink her tears away, then she kissed her on the cheek and left.

Misaki hated seeing her mother so upset; it was nothing short of torturous to see her in pain but she knew that getting along with her father would require some hard work. Clearly they still had a long way to go towards healing. She walked to her room and penned down her thoughts in a tiny white diary she kept under her pillow and sighed.

After Misaki was finally alone in the house and feeling slightly downcast now, she threw on a hanten or waist length kimono coat and was about to put some shorts on and go for some outside training but was stopped in her tracks by a knock on the door.

"Coming!" she sighed as she walked in the direction of the front door slightly peeved that she didn't get to her room to wear some bottoms yet hoping it wasn't a certain someone she was avoiding.

"Yes?" Misaki made a disgruntled noise but quickly yelled in sheer delight when she saw who was at her door.

"WOOOAAH!" yelled Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane with Misaki joining in; it was their silly little way of greeting each other.

"Izumo and Kotetsu, my homeboys! So you two are the ones making the bell go off so earli in da morning. What can I do for you guys?" she laughed with a wide grin hugging the two chuckling Chunin one after the other.

It was such a much needed surprise for her to see the two of them who were her best guy friends since she could remember, even if they were slightly older than her. They were her among her childhood friends, as she spent many of her days goofing off with them until she was reeled in by her Uchiha father.

"What's up Misaki, no ANBU black ops missions for today?" asked Izumo.

"Not today, I just have special interest reports and profiles to fill out. I guess the village isn't burning down or someone doesn't want to die today" she joked punching the wall hard and smiling at them both.

"Wanna come inside guys?" she asked removing the hanten or waist length kimono jacket and tossing it on the coat rack.

She saw their facial expressions change as their eyes peered down to notice that she was only wearing lace underwear with two giant kunai resting in pouches strapped to her thighs on both sides by suspender belts, hooks and straps wrapped around her waist to keep them in place. She was a regular femme fatal when she wanted to be, and yet she could still be one of the boys. Misaki, who was too used to wearing only underwear, a tank and her unique utility belts at home took it for granted that she was in male company.

"Badass" hissed Izumo curling the corner of his mouth into a smirk and raising an eyebrow at her whereas Kotetsu looked completely distracted by her racy gear.

"Actually Misaki, erm, we were sent here to-oh, to tell you about a erm meeting or discussion the ANBU will be having tomorrow… oh yes erm, the details, all of them are on this letter" he said mildly stuttering as he handed over the kanji written paper. Misaki was completely taken aback by his demeanour; she had known Izumo and Kotetsu to be quite used to her way of dressing at home as they had visited her on numerous occasions.

"One of the black ops operatives told us that they expect you to be there and no excuses" came Izumo casually leaning against the door frame.

"You got it, and one more thing boys-you should really learn to control your wondering eyes, know what I mean?" she said also raising an eyebrow at them, she had always been fond of the two chunin, they always amused her somehow. She couldn't not smile or laugh when she was around them.

"Well", said Kotetsu unable to resist teasing her: "You're a _very_ grown woman now Misaki and you've blossomed in front of us, with your legs for days, bright yellow brown eyes, and your underwear in the front that just covers up your-

_"Anyway,_ you should learn to put some pants on, were only men after all" interrupted Izumo nudging his friend playfully.

"Only men huh? You got that right, and don't you forget it" said Misaki cheekily. She had always had a little thing for the two of them who were widely considered among the most popular and sexiest bachelors in Konoha.

"So what's so important about this ANBU meeting today anyway? There's already a big ANBU assembly happening in a few days' time" she asked the both of them.

"It's about someone that you _might_ find interesting"-Kotetsu paused for dramatic effect- "your boyfriend, Itachi Uchiha".

The light hearted atmosphere of the room completely changed suddenly. Misaki couldn't hide the split second shock that involuntarily flashed onto her face-her worst fears had been realised. But she couldn't let Izumo and Kotetsu see her feelings of anxiety so she neutralised her face and pretended she was calm.

"Wha-What are you talking about. Why would anyone call for a meeting about Itachi? He's not even here, he's on a mission outside the village" she said trying her best to keep normal.

"Not really sure. Apparently it's some meeting for people to vent out their concerns about him, people have been complaining about him and his strange behaviours so I guess they're just sorting it out. I don't really know much…" said Izumo.

This time she struggled to keep the panic off of her face.

"Misaki, what's wrong?" asked Kotetsu looking at the shocked expression on his face; from his side he was merely fooling around with her. He knew how much she enjoyed discussing her 'placed on a pedestal' and over-glorified boyfriend.

"Hmmm? Oh nothing I just remembered something… You know what! I'm so sorry guys, I have to go. Shitureshimasu (excuse me)" she whispered staring intently at the wall opposite her already in deep thought. Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged confused glances with each other before she bade them goodbye and slid the fusumu door closed. She fast walked to her bedroom praying that she was wrong.

"_Oh no, I can't believe it! I'm not the only one who's noticed Itachi's strange behaviour, this won't go down well I can feel it, especially with that meeting tomorrow. What concerns or complaints could other members of the black ops possibly have with Itachi?_" said Misaki in her head pacing her room back and forth.

She read the letter over and over again:

"_Members of the Konohagakure ANBU Black Ops are required to attend a formal meeting to discuss concerns within its membership. This meeting is compulsory; anyone not in attendance will be dealt with by the highest authority_…"

There was no name written on the bottom to reveal who called the meeting. This made Misaki more nervous. "I should have asked Izumo and Kotetsu when I had the chance...I wonder if Itachi even knows about this… oh of course not, he's on a mission".

All this worrying was taking its toll on her. She left her room and went to go sit on the roof, which always had a way of helping her think. As she stared at the letter again this time not taking in its content she remembered the time when things took a different turn with Itachi. A turn into the unexplained.


	3. Day 1 pt 2: Misaki's memory

Day 1 pt. 2: Misaki's memory

(Misaki's memory one week ago)

_The single drop of a leaf made ripples in the still waters of Nakano River where two young lovers sat on the grassy banks. The young man gave his precious and oddly similar looking girlfriend an infatuated gaze inches from her face as she stared fixated into his dark eyes like she was in a trance. Itachi always made her feel like she was worshipping him when she stared into his mysterious eyes, without his sharingan on; it was like she was under his spell. They both just sat there taking each other in, lost in time together, until Misaki finally smiled and gave a little giggle at him and he returned her smile._

_"Ah Itachi, you always do that!" she moaned with her fair skin shading a light pink colour onto her face._

_"What? I'm not doing anything Misa" he smiled kindly lifting his shoulders._

_"That's the thing. I can't believe that after all this time you still make me blush and smile when I look at you. You have such a _strong_ effect on me" she flirted. _

_"Hopefully I'll have the same effect on you as you have on me, forever"_

_Misaki leaned in to reach his face and gave him a little peck on the cheek for his sweet comment. She loved everything about him; his dark eyes bordered by his beautifully long and dark eyelashes, the distinct dark lines beginning at the corners of his eyes running down both sides of his nose to his cheekbones, the way his hair framed his round face and his gentle personality and all the way down to what was perceived as his arrogance. She loved it all._

_Itachi swung his hand carrying a lit cigarette towards his mouth and drew in the smoke; after blowing out a cloud of smoke he handed it to Misaki so she could have a puff. She lived for days like this; sharing a smoke with Itachi against the rules and away from the eyes of authority, it was their way of being themselves away from the pressures of life. She was in a state of total bliss._

_"I'm so glad that we finally have some time off to ourselves. I need a break from these hectic back-to-back Black Ops missions. I wish everyday was like this, don't you baby?" said Misaki blowing out a cloud of smoke from her nose then handing the cigarette back to Itachi. _

_"If every day was like this, there'd be no progress in this clan, just like there isn't any now"-he picked up the leaf from the river with his free hand- "We're just like this leaf here; floating away with no purpose, nothing to show of our existence but commonality and monotony. What this clan needs is a current like this one carrying the leaf to change our direction and take us on a new path" he said distantly. _

_Misaki just looked at him slightly confused but not surprised by his words; any chance he got these days to take a dig at their illustrious clan he would take it, she didn't understand it but she didn't want it to bother her too much. She only wished that she could ask him why he was being a lot more reserved and distant than usual and not being himself lately and also why he had started to view the clan in such a negative light; but she didn't want to spoil their day with a confrontation._

_They had both been bred with the notion of the famed Uchiha clan being held with the highest esteem and most revered clan in Konohagakure's history. The clan was the badge of honour for the leaf village and gave the village the kind of prominence befitting only nations with sovereignty. They had been indoctrinated with the ideals of the clan and that the pride for the clan is the driving force for achieving and maintaining excellence and greatness like it has been for centuries, each Uchiha going even further than the last especially when considering Itachi himself. If the Uchiha clan was its own nation, Itachi would be its national anthem. He was celebrated as one of the best and people sung his praises all the time. So the fact that he had such negative opinions on the clan was beyond her understanding. _

_Itachi noticed her concerned facial expression and quickly softened his face again._

_"So, how have you and your father been lately since Masahiro's death?" he asked her. Misaki got back into the moment._

_"Were actually worse off than we we've ever been; and to think that I used to be such a daddy's girl. I just know that he blames me for what happened and now he's just pushing me, trying to make me the perfect Uchiha like my brother" she said._

_"I know what you mean, my father seems to be doing the same thing with my little brother" Itachi said looking slightly jaded._

_"But that's why I want revenge on the enemy ninja who killed my brother so that my father will finally see how strong I am. I want to be his favourite again"._

_"You don't have to prove yourself to anyone in this so-called clan, if they can't see how powerful you are then they're just as ignorant as I thought" he said indignantly. "I mean your speed is amazing, you're one of the fastest shinobi in our village and you're so nimble, you have a near perfect memory, not to mention your bow weapon or whatever… "_

_"It's called a bow and arrow, and it's not actually a ninja weapon, I took it from another shinobi I fought a few years ago remember?"_

_"Yes but you wielded it and transformed it into your own ninja weapon, nobody taught you how to do that, It's very impressive. Also your fireball jutsu is beyond par-_

_"But my sharingan and genjutsu suck at this point. Or maybe I just think it sucks because I'm comparing myself to you" she said poking his chest playfully. _

_"Your sharingan doesn't suck, you just need more practice and you'll get better"_

_ "No offence baby but you wouldn't understand it, you're so perfect that it makes the rest of us Uchiha look incompetent, and we get compared to you all the time because you're one of the people they call 'the pride' of this clan." She rested her head on his shoulder for comfort._

_Itachi shook his head dismissively and kissed her forehead; it seemed as though he was getting tired of clan politics from what she figured. He ran his fingers through her tightly bound hair with the three fingers that weren't wrapped around the cigarette. _

_ "What are you doing tonight Misa?" he asked. _

_"Oh I'm just finishing the profile for my person of interest file that the hokage asked us to do, I got the boy with the nine tailed fox sealed inside him. I think his name is N—_

_"Wait, what time is it?" he asked urgently cutting her off._

_"Past five, why?"_

_"I just remembered that I've somewhere I have to go, I'm sorry Misa" he said seriously. _

_"Again?! What's keeping you so busy lately, I checked your mission sheet and you don't have any missions until next week". _

_"It's just something I have to take care of that's all, don't worry about it" _

_ She breathed a frustrated sigh; secretive Itachi always had something to do, it was starting to cut into the little time they could spend because of their busy missions for the village._

_"So, I guess I'll see you later then" he said already getting up and kissing her cheek which left her feeling disappointed._

_"I'm so sorry Misa I'll make it up to you I promise, I'll meet you when were both free again. See you later beautiful" he said. When he saw her face he added "What's the matter?"_

_"Itachi, I never get to see you nowadays and I understand things have changed since we were made ANBU half a year ago and we're not chunin anymore but I just don't want to lose what we have together or be a clingy person" she said._

_He stared at her looking at the ground and took her hands in his. "Do you remember what I said to you about two years ago, what I called you?"_

_"You mean when we started seeing each other?" she said fondly remembering._

_ "The blossom, the beauty, my heart…"_

_"…And soul forever" she finished proving her memory was in fact near perfect._

_"Well its true. We'll never lose what we have together because you mean that much to me" he said kissing her hands. She looked up at him straight in his eyes._

_Itachi bowed to her and turned to leave but Misaki couldn't help but notice him frowning when he left. She could feel the concern for him growing inside of her. She wondered if it were possible that all the hectic missions and pressure from his father and the whole village to live up to the expectation of being the best Uchiha that was probably causing his unusual behaviour._

_She finally walked back home just to find a note from the Hokage requiring her to report to his office immediately, so she changed into her ANBU uniform mainly consisting of the black tights and greyish flak jacket, metal arm guards, Katana strapped to her back complete with her animal mask and was on her way to the Hokage's main tower and mansion._

_"Sorry I'm late Sarutobi Hokage, I only found the letter a few minutes ago" she said arriving at the Hokages' office and giving him a low bow. _

_"That's okay Misaki; tonight I have a task for you to do. I received a note from migration control at the gates of the village stipulating that we have a visitor in the village who they suspect might be using a transformation jutsu to hide his identity, his passport looked tampered with. They couldn't detain him on pure suspicion and couldn't prove any of these claims so they'll need evidence of his jutsu so they can arrest him if need be. I need you to please keep an eye on him and report back to me as soon as you can. We can't be sure yet if he's a threat to the village but it's better to be safe than sorry. He's apparently visiting a close friend in the Nigiri district of the village. I figured that you'd be the best person for the job because of your incredible speed, we need to get going or we might lose him"_

_"Thank you sir but is there a picture of him?" she asked._

_"Yes, Izumo and Kotetsu made sure that they got a picture of him" he said handing her the picture of an abnormally tall looking man with short light blonde hair._

_"That's my boys!" she said impressed by her buddies._

_"Were a little short staffed tonight so you'll have to do this alone" he said_

_"No problem Lord Hokage, I'll get on it now" she said placing her mask over her face and was about to jump out of the window but was stopped by the Hokage._

_"Oh Misaki, remember this is strictly observation. Don't interfere or fight anyone unless necessary; the more information we can get about this person without taking them out the better. That way we can find links to a bigger picture if there is one" he said._

_"Sounds like a mission suitable for my brother as he worked in intelligence gathering, doesn't it?"_

_"You'll do perfectly fine, after all you're his sister and I know you've learned a lot from him" said the hokage. _

_Misaki bowed to him respectfully and left out of the window. She jumped on top of the roof of the Hokage's main tower and headed for the residential Nigiri district of the village. She kept in mind that it would be best to just observe him first before making any rash moves. Besides her mission was to gather intelligence about him, not to fight him if he turned out to be an imposter- for now. If this person had faked his identity, he could be on the lookout for security personnel and because nothing was known about him, he could be unpredictable, which could prove to be dangerous for the Konohagakuri citizens._

_Misaki ran as fast as she could along the telephone wires and electricity cables tangled around the village towards the Nigiri district which mainly consisted of retirees who took advantage of the relatively quieter area close to the outlying farming communities of the village. When she got to the quiet district in practically no time, luckily the street lamps were being lit as the early evening was slowly dimming into darkness. She crouched down and looked down at the main cobblestone street leading to the district where people were heading home for the night. She scanned the area until she saw the tall blonde man whose features were burned into her almost perfect memory walking out of a guesthouse. Misaki allowed the man to walk ahead before following him, making sure she noted everything about him; from his simple clothing, to the ring he wore on his right hand and the overconfident grin etched onto his faced._

_ The man walked out of the Nigiri district and headed out into the village; she noticed that he didn't talk to anyone and he seemed to be making a bee line to wherever he was going and also that he seemed pretty familiar of the place for a visitor. He must have been here before. Misaki followed him slowly along the telephone lines until she stopped suddenly; someone on the other side of the district caught her eye. Someone strolling down the street wearing a dark cloak walking in the shadows of the night…_

_ It was Itachi._

_Misaki's heart gave a little jolt when she realised that it was her boyfriend walking through the village in the dark. She stared at him quite a distance away in confusion; he had said that he had to go somewhere in a hurry didn't he? So why was he strolling in the dark? _

_Itachi stopped walking when he reached another man covering his face with a hood. He was looking at something the person in the hood had given him and was on his way again. This was too strange for her to ignore, it was already getting dark and throwing on a cloak to hide in the dark was overly dodgy to her. _

_"Should I follow him?" she asked in her head. _

_She was torn between following the suspicious man and her suspicious boyfriend. This could be her only chance to find out once and for all what he was up to because he was always going somewhere but he never told her where, and she wanted to find out now more than ever with his strange behaviour. Luckily she didn't have to make the decision at that moment because the blonde man she was meant to track seemed to be heading in the same direction towards the village night marketplace just as Itachi was. _

_It was such a risky thing for her to do; she knew just how skilled Itachi was and it would be nearly impossible for her to spy on him without him noticing that someone was on his trail. She also didn't want Itachi to think that she didn't trust him if he found out, would he ever trust her again? _

_Itachi walked through the village lit up by lanterns and kept his head down. No one noticed him walking past as they were busy eating, drinking, laughing and enjoying their evening in Konoha. Meanwhile the blonde man on the opposite side of the fence continued walking in the dark. Misaki made sure to keep a fair distance from Itachi even if she was above him running along the telephone wires, as Itachi was too powerful a ninja who would be on to her easily. He continued walking until he left the sights and sounds of the village behind and was approaching the darkest area of the village that was not lit up by any lanterns. Curiously, so was the blonde man she was tracking… Her heart was starting to beat faster in nervous anticipation; was it possible that the two were connected?_

_A few metres away from where she crouched down on the telephone wire, Misaki saw a lantern that was lit on the window sill of a building. She knew that if she walked past it while it was lit, it would cast a shadow of her on the street below where Itachi was. She knew that she couldn't extinguish it or Itachi below would notice the only light in the area go out. She ran the rest of the way towards the light as fast as she could to gain momentum then she jumped in the air and flipped over the entire range of the light beaming across the courtyard and landed on the ending telephone pole and stopped to see what both Itachi and the blond man were doing._

_They both kept walking in the same direction but hadn't crossed paths yet so Itachi was still in the innocent, but not for long as she saw the two of them heading to the dark edges of the village surrounded by forest. _

_Misaki, who had reached the very last telephone poll, waited for Itachi to pass her and jumped down from the pole. She had no choice but to follow them both on the ground. This made her very uneasy and slightly nervous but what followed filled her with even more uneasiness. Itachi and the blond man had now stepped on the same path together and were walking side by side with their heads still down. They didn't even acknowledge each other; they just walked together heads bowed walking down the same path._

_ Misaki launched herself from the bottom of the telephone to the nearest tree branch and landed on her hands in a handstand so the two suspects don't hear her landing impact on the tree branch if she used her feet. She crouched where she was and peered down at Itachi and the other man who carried on walking in silence. Her heart started to beat furiously when she realised where they were and where they were heading… The only unofficial road leading to the exit of the village behind the forest. It was the perfect place for anyone wanting to leave the village to go undetected as there were no migration control officials guarding the densely forested area._

_"Oh no! What's he doing here? He can't be leaving the village with this stranger can he?" she asked herself. _

_For a moment she contemplated stepping out of the shadows and trying to stop him from leaving because being members of the black ops they both knew anyone who left the village unannounced would be classified as a rouge citizen or ninja and immediately become a fugitive unless they were ninja on duty patrolling the boarder or perimeter. Itachi didn't seem fazed by this though; he carried on walking with the stranger as if it were just any other road in the village, until they got near the end of the road and suddenly stopped. Misaki stopped a few yards away from them in another tree and waited… Itachi turned to the blond man who turned to look up at him and they both turned to each other…_

_"It's a little risky for you to come here in person don't you think?" asked Itachi _

_ "So, what have you decided…" grunted the mysterious blond man in a gruff voice and ignoring Itachi's question._

_"Just give me a while and I'll be there" said Itachi_

_Misaki gasped quietly, the shock of his words smacked her hard in the stomach. She couldn't even think of one reason as to what he could be talking about. _

_All of a sudden, the blond man made a poof of smoke and turned into a whole new different person. It was now evident that he had indeed been using a transformation jutsu. Using her sharingan now she saw the stranger's appearance was far more bizarre and off putting than before. He now had short black hair, bluish-grey skin with what looked like gills on his cheeks and he was wearing a tee length coat with a long collar and red clouds… he looked somewhat like a shark and he had something huge strapped to his back wrapped in bandage. The only thing that remained the same was the cocky grin plastered onto his face. _

_ Most interestingly though she noticed his headband with the mist village symbol with a scratch through it. She threw a shuriken in his direction with such precision that it cut off a small piece of his bottom coat from behind and stuck to the trunk of a nearby tree without them noticing- or so she hoped anyway. _

_ It was too dark for her to see much, but luckily the moon provided the natural light that she needed. She didn't know what their conversation meant but she had a feeling it wasn't good. If he had been an honest person, he wouldn't have to talk to Itachi covertly. What kind of people was Itachi getting involved with? And if he didn't catch on to her spying it would be nothing short of a miracle. _

_"That's good, but we're getting impatient and we won't wait forever, not even for the likes of you" whispered the shark-like person. _

_"I said I'll be there, be sure to pass the message on" Itachi said coolly._

_Without another word, the shark-like person bowed to Itachi and suddenly mist that came from nowhere covered them completely as he ran off into the forest and would soon be over the wall of the village. With her eyes still red, Misaki watched him do his technique and stored it in her mind. She was not the best at sharingan but she was at least trying to get better. _

_The shark-like person ran off into the forest and would soon be over the wall of the village. This left only her and Itachi standing in the dark with Itachi unaware she was watching him from above in a tree. Misaki couldn't take any more of it; she was so paranoid that Itachi would hear her loud heartbeat so she quietly jumped away from the tree where she was crouching and embodied the word ninja by retrieving the piece of cloth she had cut off from the stranger's cloak without her stone's throw away boyfriend noticing as he walked away in another direction. _

_When she finally got to the road, she ran for it, ran with the speed she was known for, not looking back but running away from her thoughts, running away from what she had heard and what she had just witnessed. She carried on running until she reached the Hokage's main towers and stopped, feeling out of breath. Her heart was still pounding from what she had just seen. She couldn't believe it, Itachi interacting with someone who could be a danger to the village, or perhaps Itachi was undercover to find out about the person? She really couldn't tell. It was pure luck that Itachi didn't catch her and that she had worked alone on that mission so that no one else would know. _

_Misaki looked down at the blank sheets of paper she was meant to write about her findings. Writing about what she saw Itachi doing could get him implicated and she couldn't have that, but then again she had to write something… She didn't have the same knack for investigating like her brother who worked as a jonin for the intelligence core of the Uchiha police force until he was killed on his way to do his job. Telling the truth of what she saw would honour his memory as an intelligence gathering ninja but it could be the end for Itachi…. _

_Misaki stood there biting her lip and thinking stressfully, she really couldn't decide what to do. A shinobi always had to know what to do in times of duty. She exhaled a sharp breath and after a long moral debate with herself, Misaki wrote about the mysterious man using a transformation jutsu who later turned into a tall shark-like former mist village shinobi from the land of water with a red clouded high collared coat who headed west out of the village… and guiltily left out the part about her boyfriend talking to him… It was scary to her sometimes just how much influence Itachi had on her._

_She walked into the Hokage's office and handed in the report without looking at the pleased Hokage so that her guilt and betrayal of loyalty to him as an ANBU wouldn't spill out of her…_

...

When Misaki snapped back to reality from remembering what had happened last week, she felt an uncontrollable surge of irresponsibility for not having told anyone what she saw that night and for not confronting Itachi himself, but then again she knew without a doubt that she trusted Itachi. But even she couldn't deny the fact that Itachi had been very different lately and she would only hear too well about it in tomorrow's ANBU discussion. She just prayed that no one had found out about that night and hoped he had a good reason for whatever he was doing… probably undercover or something… or maybe she was just coming up with another justification to make her sleep better at night. But still, the feeling of failing her sense of duty wouldn't go away. She jumped from the roof back into her bedroom via the open window and walked up to her pillow to pull out her trusted tiny white diary and write down what happened that night and hid the diary away so no one would find it. Even if she still hadn't told anyone, it would ease the burden of guilt.

Sighing heavily, Misaki walked to her desk to pull open her desk drawer. She lifted up the clutter of broken ninja tools and took out the piece of cloth she had torn from the shark-like stranger's cloak and observed it. It was made distinctive by the strange red cloud on it outlined by a white line and the black cloth with the red interior; she wondered what it could mean… then tossed it back into the drawer and threw herself onto her bed. The meeting tomorrow would be a test for her to prove where her loyalties lay- with the ANBU black ops or with Itachi.


	4. Day 2: Blurred lines

Day 2: Blurred lines

Misaki Uchiha took one deep breath to calm her nerves. She was in the back garden dressed in her white single layered kimono, tied around her waist by a navy blue obi or sash complete with a giant bow at the back, dancing around with a folding fan she was holding. Dancing always helped to calm her nerves and help practise her martial arts forms. She needed a great distraction from her worrying of the ANBU meeting that could possibly see Itachi in trouble.

Looking at the time she figured that she couldn't put it off any longer so she went back inside the house to change into her ANBU uniform for the meeting. Misaki clipped on the flak jacket that was a part of her ANBU black ops uniform and tied her brother's leaf village headband onto her forehead. After deciding not to take her katana with her as she was only going to a meeting, or whatever, she left her room.

"Hey ma Uchiha, I'm going out for a meeting now at ANBU, don't leave any food for me, I probably won't be able to eat any after this anyway or ever again. Just saying." she said walking up to her mother in one of the rooms in their house.

"You're so silly Misaki" her mother chuckled."But wait don't you already have the ANBU assembly to attend later this week?"

"Yes but this is something else, I'll just have so go and see, what happens"

"See you later honey" said her mother kissing her.

Misaki walked out of the house and almost everyone she passed greeted her in their clan. From strangers to her neighbours to Itachi's aunt and uncle. It was actually against the rules for her to show her face in public when wearing the ANBU uniform but most of the village already knew that she was an ANBU member because she was made prominent by being the only female member of the ANBU black ops in three villages. She looked at the time and saw that she only had a few minutes left until the meeting so she tried to rush. But unfortunately a throng of young kunoichi found her walking out of the Uchiha clan area and pointed her out by yelling.

"Oh my goodness look! It's Misaki Uchiha. Oh Misaki hi!" yelled one of the kunoichi that Misaki trained in her spare time. The entire group of girls mobbed her all at one time. Misaki was bewildered at their sudden approach as they grabbed her and were touching her all over her body like she was a free shiny new toy.

"Oh wow look at her hair! Look at her uniform! She's awesome! Can you train us now? Where's your boyfriend? Why aren't your eyes red? Can you dance for us?" came to her all at once as the young girls were fascinated by her and couldn't stop touching her. Misaki appreciated the admiration but she was now running late for the meeting that she couldn't be late for; she wanted to find out about the concerns people have had about Itachi.

"Okay girls, thank you so much but I really have to go now, I'm getting late for something important but I promise I will train you all when I have some time. I'll see you later" she said trying to remove herself from their clutches.

"Wait, before you go, can I ask you a question?" asked one of the girls whispering

"Sure thing. Just make it quick"

"Is it true that your eyes, you know your red ones, make you see into the future?" asked one of the young girls.

"Oh you mean my sharingan and no I don't see into the future really, it's more like I can anticipate people's moves and sometimes copy or control their movements in real time" she said with the girls nodding in amazement.

"Also, is it true that your long braid weighs a ton?" asked somebody else.

"Not sure, it might since I got into the habit of sticking broken and sharp pieces of kunai inside the knots of my braid. It's quite handy"

"Doesn't it hurt?" cried one of the girls.

"Not if I don't touch it. But if an enemy tried to…well it wouldn't end well. Anyways I've been doing that since I was a genin like you girls so I'm used to it" she said. The girls were gazing at her in full idol worship mode. Misaki felt it was the right time to leave.

"I'll see you girls when I'm free" she said walking away with a couple of stares still on her.

Walking away into the village at a faster pace now because she was on the verge tardiness, she noticed her neighbour, old man Uchiha looking at her fondly.

She had escaped the young girls only to run into one of her neighbours, the wacky old man Uchiha who had a penchant for telling her his daily musings. She had no time for chatting to him today but she didn't want to be rude.

"Hello Misaki, how are you today" he breathed with his ageing lungs.

"Oh hello old man Uchiha, I'm okay today and you?" she said staring at the time.

"Oh just fine. You know, those young girls really do admire you, you know. I mean they look up to you as a way of following in the footsteps of the great kunoichi and one of the legendary san nin Tsunade"

"Really, you think so?"

"Actually more than that, I think you really inspire them to try and be splendid shinobi and not just splendid kunoichi. They need a role model like you to show them that being a young girl doesn't mean that you can't be the best ninja overall"

"Wow thanks old man Uchiha. I appreciate it" she said about to dash off but the old man continued talking.

"I have to say that watching you and all you young Uchiha in your fancy shinobi suits makes me feel quite jealous of your age. But I have said in the past, I will stay alive forever because I have my sense of humour!" he croaked and Misaki smiled politely back at him but looking at the time her smile quickly vanished.

"You think so. That's good to hear; well I have to get going. I'll see you later old man Uchiha, stay young!" She could hear him mumbling about the young always being in a hurry as she now ran towards the hokage's building but not entirely at her impressive full speed or she would knock people over in the busy bustling village.

When Misaki got to the meeting room of the ANBU black ops in the Hokages' main building and mansion, it was already crawling with operatives sitting down, chatting and discussing. When they saw her standing in the doorway everyone stopped to look at her. Instantly and to her dismay she noticed that she was the only one wearing her ANBU uniform with her mask slid onto the side of her head. It had been nothing short of a few seconds and already she stood out and was being watched by eagle eyes everywhere. She couldn't exactly tell what they were all thinking but she had a hunch that it had something to do with her and Itachi. Swallowing hard, she walked inside cautiously watching the dozens of pairs of eyes following her until she stood at the back of the meeting room where another operative, Hayete, was standing and waiting for the meeting to commence.

"Just in time" said Hayete leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

"In time for what, a sentencing?" she asked sarcastically allowing some of her annoyance to slip through.

"Call it what you want, people have legitimate concerns about your boy Itachi and it's about to go down right here and now"

"Don't you think it's a little underhanded to call a meeting about Itachi when he isn't even here?"

"This isn't exactly a meeting is it, it's a briefing on Itachi and what they have decided about all the complaints people have been on about for some time now…"

The young man with dark hair and eyes just like the rest of his clan standing at the doorway with the captain stopped to observe and scan the audience that was summoned. He was pleased to see the one person he wanted the most to be in attendance was present. When the captain knocked on the open door twice they both walked in. All the members of the ANBU black ops fell silent again as they saw them both walking in, and Misaki could sense the fear and anxiety bubbling inside her. It was inevitable. The very person she had been avoiding had just walked into the room and the almost forgotten feelings of guilt washed over her and turned her a bright red. She looked down immediately and tried her hardest not to stand out again. She knew that this was eventually going to come from him, but she was surprised at how quickly he had responded to concerns about Itachi.

Shisui 'the teleporter' Uchiha stood near the front of the meeting room, flanking the captain and giving him a clear view of everyone. He was widely considered as the best sharingan wielder of Misaki's clan and the only one to have ever possessed the legendary visual jutsu in her clan history from what she knew. He stood tall with his usual proud and self-confident manner before all of them. He let out a sharp breath before turning to the operative in a full body covering white cloak sitting beside him. He bowed to him, the captain of the ANBU black ops, Ichiro Miyake who began talking to them. Misaki braced herself for the worst. If captain Ichiro found out about Itachi talking to a now wanted imposter, it would all turn ugly.

"Thank you all for coming to this briefing, all of you who chose to come if you wanted to and could make it here (Misaki shook her head at the floor when she heard him say that). Don't worry everyone this will be short and quick" said captain Ichiro pausing before continuing.

"Regretfully, I believe that it has to be said that you may or may not know that one of our members has been causing a bit of a stir within our groupings" he said trying to beat around the bush.

"Yes we know, you're talking about Itachi. Everyone's been hearing things about him ever since he joined us six months ago" said one of the ANBU operatives

"Yes I know that Itachi has been a little odd lately and that most of you have your own justified concerns about him" (Misaki's mind instantly shot back to the incident with Itachi in the forest a week ago that they didn't know about because she had kept it from them)…"But you need not worry yourselves about him from now on—

"And why's that? Because he'll just do whatever he wants and get away with it like always because his father is a big shot Uchiha" another operative shot back.

Misaki felt her blood boil; it was so unfair for them to talk about Itachi when he wasn't here to defend himself, but she couldn't speak out for him or she would just come across as the bias lovesick clingy girlfriend.

"No, none of us benefit from preferential treatment regardless of our backgrounds, even if it may seems so at times. We just need to keep in mind that Itachi, no matter what you hear or notice, is still a part of this team and should be treated as such" Ichiro said.

"A part of this team? Yeah right! If none of us get special treatment like you said captain, then why is Itachi allowed to work alone at times and not on a team like the rest of us? He prefers to work alone and that's what he gets!" said another fed up operative.

Captain Ichiro sighed before answering "Itachi is an exceptional shinobi who—

"Ah here we go! Itachi praise and worship so early in the morning! I swear…" interrupted another frustrated operative.

"Okay, that's enough everyone" said the captain Ichiro affirmatively "Itachi was chosen by the Hokage himself as one of our best young operatives and if the Hokage thinks it's best for Itachi to work alone sometimes then we must respect his wishes"

"Yeah, probably after his father pulled some strings to get his precious son whatever he wants" sneered back someone jealously from the back which unluckily was heard by the crowd.

"I said that's enough! Whatever negative sentiments you might have for Itachi must be put aside for the sake of this organisation to fully function as a unit and maintain our loyalties to each other and the Hokage. Now I don't want to hear more on this. What I really wanted to tell you all is that you don't have to worry about Itachi anymore because Shisui here has been asked to monitor him from now. If you have any further concerns redirect them to Shisui here. Is that understood?" he said pointing to Shisui.

"No offence captain but is that such a good idea. I mean aren't you and Itachi good friends, Shisui?"

"If you're questioning my objectivity then you should know that I will be keeping an eye on him carefully because he's my friend and fellow Uchiha and I will inform Itachi of me keeping an eye on him so he can clean up his act" said Shisui.

"Well if there's nothing more-"said captain Ichiro but Misaki interrupted him.

"I think we have the right to know why Itachi is being monitored. At least for those of us who don't know what he has done" she couldn't keep quiet anymore; she had to know what their concerns were about her boyfriend.

"Are you kidding me? You just don't see it because you don't want to see it You need to be a lot more professional than this!" came someone from the front.

"So why don't you tell me then? What has he done? Huh?" she demanded.

"He chose to work alone most of the time, he doesn't show up for missions sometimes, he disappears for long periods of time while on those missions in a foreign land, he has been accused of using genjutsu against some shinobi of this village to cover his tracks or whatever when he spontaneously disappears, he comes up with bogus excuses for not showing up when needed or doesn't bother giving any explanation at all sometimes, he is snappy and is known to lose control of his temper now and then. That's just for starters"

"Bullshit! That's probably just rumours made by a lot of jealous people. Besides you don't have any proof" she yelled forgetting that she didn't want to be perceived as his devoted girlfriend.

"These were first-hand accounts of his strange behaviour and-

"Okay, okay that's enough you two. Misaki please try to understand that both me and the Konoha police force have been receiving complaints about Itachi that we couldn't ignore. We have to monitor him for a while and we'll see from then. That's all"

Misaki punched her fist against the back wall to calm down and nodded at him feeling annoyed but slightly relieved that nobody had mentioned the meeting with Itachi and the imposter, so she assumed that they didn't know.

"Everyone be sure to pass the message on to the others who didn't make it here today. So are we done?" he asked. Most of the members of the black ops regretfully nodded their heads though some were unconvincing.

"Good I don't want to hear more of this in future, it's all with Shisui now" snapped Ichiro obviously feeling annoyed now-he knew that any division within the team would reflect poorly on his leadership.

When the meeting ended and the operatives dismissed Misaki made sure that she wasn't the first one to the door or she would be singled out in front of the rest of the group. She waited for most of the group to exit before she stood up and dashed for the door but was ultimately stopped in her tracks en route.

"Misaki, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" asked Shisui still standing at the front of the room. It seemed like he had been waiting for her specifically to get up. Misaki stopped and sighed before turning to him, she had been avoiding this one-on-one talk with him. She looked up at him, the first time she made eye contact with him since she betrayed Itachi's trust with him. She walked and stopped abruptly before she was near him. He only spoke to her once everyone had left the room.

"I don't bite Misaki, I promise" he said a slight hint of sass in his tone.

"No?" she said slowly stalking towards him with the heel of her stilletto boots assaulting the ground with every step. "Then I guess it's safe for me to approach you without any uneasiness?" she asked playing along with the cheekiness of his tone.

He understood what she meant and gave a quick chuckle at her. "I noticed that you've been awfully quiet in this meeting today" he said ironically.

"Everyone else got a letter saying that they could attend this briefing if they wished to yet somehow I received a letter stipulating that this 'meeting' was formal and compulsory. I wonder how that came to be Shisui?" she asked.

"It was the only way to make sure you that you would be here" he said honestly. She shook her head at him slightly pissed off and looked away.

"Look I'm sorry for lying to you, but I wasn't sure if you would come if Ichiro sent a messenger bird telling you of this briefing… and telling you that this letter was from me". When she still didn't look back at him he added "Especially because of what happened between us, I know that you've been avoiding me" he whispered.

She finally looked back at him and saw that he was actually being sincere. "What did you want to say to me?"

"First of all, are you okay since you came to see me the other night last week? I was really worried about you crying and refusing to tell me what was wrong"

"Yes, thanks for that" she said remembering visiting him and crying on his shoulder and not telling him about seeing Itachi with an imposter.

"And how's your family been coping since Masahiro's death?" he said.

"You mean Masahi's murder, and we're fine now, I guess" Misaki didn't want to go into a lengthy personal talk with him about her dead brother.

"Good to hear, and I'm sorry were taking so long tracking down the ninja who killed him it's just that this ninja came from far away and I've been too busy keeping an eye on your boyfriend—"

"Since when were you assigned to be Itachi's keeper? I was never aware of my 'boyfriend' as you so eloquently put it being any kind of criminal"

"I never said he was a criminal. I was asked by the Konoha police force and our ANBU captain to watch him. They're the ones who labelled him as suspicious not me; I'm merely just following orders"

"Even if 'following orders' means investigating your best friend without him knowing and driving a wedge into your friendship if he found out?"

"My duty is to our clan and this village before anything and anyone else. But don't worry, like I said before, I will tell Itachi about this investigation and about people's suspicions of him". "Here" he said giving her a paper file in her hands. "Just take a look at this person of interest profile I've been doing on him when you get the chance"

She flipped through the notes and scanned the writing. She questioned how thorough he had been because there was no mention of the night Itachi had met the stranger. At least it meant that Shisui didn't know just like the rest of the ANBU, and she wanted to keep it that way at least until she found out from Itachi first what had happened.

"I can't believe this is happening so fast. I'm really worried about him Shisui. I think his father is hounding him and controlling him too much. Maybe he's rebelling"

Shisui looked at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable; and his face was getting too close for comfort. "You don't have to worry about Itachi, he can handle himself and the pressure from his father but I must ask you to stay wary of him"

"I don't have to; Itachi shouldn't be held under suspicion from the people who are loyal to him. I don't care what these other people say. They don't know Itachi like I do"

"Seriously Misaki" he said stepping closer to her and staring into her warm eyes. "You need to keep vigilant with him…"

He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and tucked her hanging black strands of hair behind her ears. She looked at him straight in his eyes not blinking; she didn't know what to think. He took her chin in his hand and drew her closer and closer until she looked down, drawing back her face away from his.

"Shisui, what are you doing, the walls have eyes" she whispered.

"Forgive me" he said drawing back immediately and coming back to his senses.

"No it's not just your fault, were both to blame here. I didn't mean for what happened to happen"

"Then why did you kiss me so intensely a few nights ago?" he whispered back. This was the very discussion she had been trying to avoid.

"It was a mistake; I confused my concern for Itachi with feelings for you. It was in the moment" she said with the guilt of cheating on Itachi burning inside her.

"How do you know that for sure? You seemed pretty upset about something; it didn't look like something in the moment to me"

"Please, Shisui don't turn this into a soap opera, I just want to forget about what happened. You should know better than this, Itachi is your best friend and he looks up to you"-she paused before continuing-"Look I know that Itachi's been acting strange but he needs our support now more than ever because of all this"

Shisui had a thought before speaking to her again. "Have you told Itachi yet?"

"There's nothing to tell. I made out with you for all of a few seconds before I came to my senses"

"Yet your guilt is stronger than you thought isn't it?"

"I was upset I kissed you by accident. I don't have feelings for you and I don't mind living with the guilt until it goes away someday" she said through gritted teeth.

"Your guilt won't go away until you come clean"

Misaki let out a sigh before continuing; the conversation was getting tedious. "Listen Shisui, I'm sorry for what I did the other night and I'm sorry if you thought I was leading you on, but I don't want to jeopardise my relationship with Itachi, he's too important to me, and with you being his best friend, you're important to me as well, but only as a friend, and an ANBU mentor, and fellow Uchiha. That's all I have to give" she said to him softly trying to let him down easily.

"Then I apologise once again; I must have misinterpreted your actions... But can you trust him though; will you be able to trust Itachi fully when he comes back from his mission tomorrow?"

"Absolutely. I won't betray his trust, and I won't let his best friend betray his trust as well" she said walking away from him.

"We're both too late for that…" he said referring to the night that she kissed him… she carried on walking.

"Misaki?"

She stopped walking but she didn't turn to look at him.

"Why would you deny yourself? You always struck me as the kind of woman who knows what she wants and always gets what she wants" he said. She turned around and stared at him from where she was standing. She had to admit that Shuisui had a way with words that made her feel better about herself and question herself at the same time. But after contemplating what he said, she knew exactly how she felt.

"I _do_ know what I want and I _do_ have it" she said finally bowing to him and walking out of the room leaving Shisui staring in her wake.

As Misaki walked back to her house, a million thoughts raced through her head. She couldn't keep her mind quiet. This whole situation with her and Shisui kissing was her fault and she knew it, she had allowed it to escalate. She didn't completely regret going to see Shuisui; he had a way of making her feel comforted the way Itachi couldn't as he was so distant and aloof at times. She had been in such a worried state that she allowed herself to be taken by him. She had spontaneously gone to see Shisui that night haunted by the fact that she'd kept important information from the hokage about Itachi meeting the stranger a week ago but not telling Shisui what she saw, and they had kissed for less than a minute. It was proving to be difficult to say that she didn't feel anything, even in the moment, but her feelings towards him were certain now that she didn't feel the same way for Shisui as she did for Itachi. Kissing Itachi's best friend was foolish, soap opera material, unforgivable, back stabbing, extremely low.

With Itachi returning back to the village tomorrow from his mission, and the ANBU black ops assembly coming up in two days, there was no time for anything and she hoped that Shisui had gotten the message plain and simple about how she felt… She headed out of the hokages' main tower and back to her house feeling less than impressed with herself, still feeling the guilt of betrayal and unfaithfulness towards Itachi.

When she got home, she wrote down in her diary what had happened that day and stashed it away as per usual, then noticed a letter pinned on her bedroom wall with a kunai near her giant bow and arrow she stole and converted into a weapon a few years ago. She took it down and saw that it was from her best friend Anko Mitarashi and it was titled:

"_Party time later this week this week!" _


	5. Day 3: The turning of the wheels

Day 3: The turning of the wheels 

The sun rose up a lot faster than Misaki remembered as she woke up feeling a little more tired than usual. The constant worrying she had done for the past two days because of the ANBU meeting discussing Itachi had been too much for her stress levels. But thankfully for her it was over. No one had found about about Itachi meeting with a wanted imposter and now it was time to move on. Sitting by her desk; she finished writing up her person of interest file for the hokage when she opened her desk drawer to put away her pen, she saw it again: the cloth she had torn off from the imposter's cloak. She observed it again; there was no way that it didn't mean anything; the red cloud looked like a symbol for something, like it was meant to be distinctive. She would have to go and search herself for information at the Konoha police headquarters when she had the time. Whenever that was.

After the usual awkward confrontation with her father in the kitchen before he headed to work and after she kissed her mother goodbye, Misaki reported to the hokage's towers to hand in an updated person of interest profile to the hokage about the person she had gathered information on; the boy with the nine tailed fox sealed inside him. All the profiles had to be in by nightfall that day in order to prepare for the annual ANBU black ops assembly taking place in two days' time which always fell on the same day each year as the opening day of the academy for new and returning students.

"…Seems to be a pretty normal kid besides the fact that he has the nine tailed fox sealed inside him, and he seems pretty lonely and disliked by the rest of the villagers which is why he's always getting into trouble; he seeks attention. Either than that we don't have anything to worry about with him; the seal is still intact and the fox spirit inside him has not been causing him to make any random attacks on people like some Konohan's suggested. Anyway he'll be starting at the academy on the ANBU assembly day with his 'father figure' Iruka so he should calm down. Though I do recommend that we keep an eye on him as he grows up and learns to control his chakra as this could be dangerous for him and the opportunistic nine tailed fox inside him".

"Thank you Misaki for your report" said Sarutobi Hokage.

"Anything for you sir. See you later" she said bowing to him.

As Misaki was about to turn around and walk out of the hokage's office someone came behind her and tried to cover her eyes with their hands but her quick reflexes caught the hands nearing her face. But before she could react in surprise the person whispered in her ear.

"Guess who?" he said softly in her ear.

A rush of excitement filtered through her like a hot fiery liquid pouring through her body and warming up her senses. She knew that voice anywhere. He was finally back from his mission. She smiled as she removed his hands off of her eyes and turned around to beam at the dark-haired, enigmatic salt of the earth, highly acclaimed, celebrated national anthem and prodigy of the Uchiha clan. He lit up looking at her beautiful face and smile and was equally excited to see her. She fought the urge to scream in excitement.

"Itachi!" she whispered overcome with euphoria as she flung her hands around his neck and threw herself into his embrace with a tight hug. She was in a full teenage girl mentality. He laughed softly in her ear and stroked the fine hairs at the back of her head. It made her skin burn hot like fire. When they finally let go of each other they stood there staring at each other with Itachi cupping her chin in his hands.

"Tadaima (I'm back;home)" he said.

"Okaeri (welcome back)" she responded.

They both momentarily forgot that they were in a room full of people, including the hokage. One chunin called Iruka cleared his throat to snap them out of their romantic spell which made them both turn to the hokage again.

"Sorry about that sir" said Itachi; Misaki felt slightly embarrassed as the entire room of jonin, chunin and other admin staff were looking at them; some were surprised, some were disapproving but most were amused, including Anko Mitarashi, one of her best friends. She quickly smirked at Anko who mockingly shook her head to scold her.

"There's nothing to apologise about son" he said at them. "So Itachi, I heard your mission went well" he said.

"Yes sir, but I should tell you that the fourth kazekage of the sand put in a request to have his youngest son killed by one of our shinobi but I couldn't have that as we have a policy against assassinations of children younger than fifteen. Looks to me like they're all afraid of him. Anyway I suggest we continue maintaining diplomatic relations with our ally, the Sand Village as they are still not happy about the number of shinobi we train here every year compared to the other villages. They have the opinion that we're not equally balancing the scales" he said sternly.

"Noted. Thank you Itachi, I'll see you at the ANBU assembly" said the hokage

Itachi bowed to him and left with Misaki walking with her arm around Itachi's lower back but not for long as Itachi grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist to squeeze her tightly as soon as they were out of sight from the hokage's office workers.

"Ah! That was so mortifying" she laughed tilting her head sideways for Itachi to cradle his head on her shoulder.

"I'm not bothered by it, I mean you are my girl and they should know that" he said coyly.

Misaki felt her heart pounding in her chest; it really meant a lot to her to hear him say that, especially since Itachi was naturally reserved and it was rare for him to admit his feelings.

"Besides I'm pretty sure things like that happen all the time behind closed doors. No one is willing to admit it" he said.

"Even so, I haven't been that embarrassed since my brother caught you spanking me on my bedroom floor last year"

"Oh yeah, I definitely remember that. Or the time we were both caught kissing in Nakano shrine by my father"

"Oh yeah! I thought that we were going to die by his painful death glare he gave us alone" she laughed. "We always seem to get busted doing inappropriate things"

Itachi leaned in towards her ear and whispered sweet nothings about said 'inappropriate things' in her ear that she wouldn't be able to repeat in the vicinity of her mother. It made her blush and sent heat waves surging through her body; he always had that effect on her. When they both walked slowly out of the hokage's building and into the street still all over each other, people all over the village stared at them as they passed by; it was a hobby for them to watch what many perceived as a golden couple. They had both learned to ignore it.

"Okay truthfully now Itachi how was your mission _really_?" she asked as he let go of her and threw his arm around her shoulders.

"Harrowing, the youngest son of the kazekage of the sand has this strange offish aura about him, and everyone in that village is afraid of him, I can tell, including the kazekage himself, it's strange. But anyway how have you been?" he asked kissing her cheek.

"As good as I can get with my father always crawling up my ass" she said

"Anything exciting happen while I was away?"

Misaki bit her tongue to prevent herself from telling him about the briefing most of the ANBU had had about their raised concerns on him. It wasn't her place to tell Itachi that he was being investigated by his best friend; that was Shisui's job. Besides she didn't want to ruin the day with him especially since he just got home.

"Not really, just the same old same old, you know. But I really missed you this time" she said.

"Sorry about that but I'm supposed to have another mission again after tomorrow. But I'm supposed to do it after the ANBU assembly. It's a very special and important mission that is supposed to make the Uchiha clan look good by how well I carry it out or something. I wasn't really listening to my father" he said dismissively

"Ah what! No way Itachi you have to protest; they're working you too hard, exploiting you. I mean you've been climbing the ninja ranks for years without a day to spare. I know you're talented but you need time out to be human. Your father is puppet mastering you to get the clan ahead. Not to mention that we have to attend the ANBU assembly that day in good shape" she said feeling satisfied after the venting.

"Don't worry I won't be going on that mission anyway, our family was invited to the opening of the Academy for my little brother"

"Oh yeah! I forgot that he's old enough to start at the academy now, oh wow how time flies, already starting on the path to become a shinobi. But your dad might not allow for you to skip the mission since it apparently sounds like such a big mission for our clan"

"He'll have to; even if I have to make him. I'm going to be there for my younger brother and so will he!" he said as if there was anyone bold enough to challenge his decision. It almost sounded like a threat to her as he looked away serious faced. Misaki didn't know what to think of him when he did that sometimes.

"Okay well since you're here now, do you mind training me, or are you still tired from your mission?" she asked him. Any chance to train with the likes of Itachi she always took; she did somehow feel pressure to measure up to him the same way every Uchiha child did.

"No, I got back earlier this morning and took a break. But if you want to train with me, we have to go now because I promised my little brother that I'd show him some of my target practise in the park behind the Uchiha clan area later.

"Target practise? Oh yeah is that where you throw and deflect kunai's at all the targets around the trees even hitting the last 'blind spot target'? I remember doing that when we were genin except you were flawless at it"

"Well for now, let's get going" he said holding her hand as they walked away towards the training grounds in Konoha near the memorial stone. When they got there Misaki stood in front of her man a few metres away, staring at him.

"Okay, switch on your sharingan" he said and her golden brown eyes turned a brilliant red. Immediately everything around her began to move at a slower pace. It was like she had pressed the slow motion button on life as her eyes slowed down the movements of everything to about half its original speed. Not only that but her vision had improved dramatically; she could see every droplet hanging from a spider's web on a nearby tree and every bug hovering in the air and know what it was about to do next. But all this came at a price of course as sharingan was a real chakra swallower for her because she hadn't mastered it as well as Itachi and Shisui. She could already feel her chakra burning inside of her; she would have to use it quickly so she doesn't use a lot and have to rest for a long time.

"When you're ready…"

Itachi didn't have his sharingan on but he didn't need it; Misaki knew what she was up against. She had sparred with Itachi a million times before as he was a master of their clan's visual jutsu having mastered it at age eight, when she was still struggling to catch on to it. But she did have one thing that she was best at- speed and agility.

She stood before Itachi watching him, but she knew that the trick with Itachi is that he was so highly skilled that using the sharingan to anticipate his moves wouldn't work as well on him because his moves were already too powerful and he wouldn't look into her eyes. The trick with Itachi was to stay out of his sight and to keep him overly busy so he wouldn't have the concentration for his genjutsu to work, but that was a whole other chore itself.

"By the way, I'm not going to attack you. I'm just going to try blocking your moves"

"Yes, yes we all know that your naturally gifted while some of us have to train until we're bleeding..."

She ran… faster and faster until she would no longer be visible to the ordinary human eyes, and went behind Itachi to strike him on his neck but he didn't even move his head sideways, however he grabbed her arm to throw her over his shoulder but she flipped over him and tried to pull Itachi down with her. She knew what he was about to do before he did it but it was too late; with his free hand he grabbed one of her giant kunai knives strapped onto her thigh with her infamous utility belt and placed her in a choke hold. He pointed it right at the back of her head and smiled at her. She needed to get better at her sharingan.

"Try again"

"Okay fine, you want to use weapons, then I'll use weapons too" she panted looking at his smug face that only made her more determined.

When Itachi let her go, she walked away and turned her back to him. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she turned her back on him and ran again. This time she bulleted up a nearby tree focusing most of her chakra by her feet. When she reached the final and highest branch of the tall tree, she used it as a launching pad to thrust her up a few metres into the air and she placed her hands firmly against her sides and let herself fall. When she reached the tree again she bolted down on the trunk to gain the momentum she needed to run at an incredible speed towards Itachi on the ground. When she was a short distance away from him she pulled out the other giant kunai strapped to her thigh and spun it in the air. Then she threw it to Itachi's left side while she ran towards him on the right. That way he wouldn't have any chance to escape by moving to any one side.

Unfortunately for her as the giant kunai approached Itachi he ducked to avoid it and caught it while she reached him on his left. He swung it towards her and threw it back to her so she had to fall down into a split on her legs to avoid it. She quickly jumped up again and swung her leg at him only for Itachi to grab her leg while it was still one-eighty degrees in the air. She couldn't pull her leg back as he had such a firm grip, so she reached for the heel of her shoe on the foot that Itachi was holding onto and took the heel out, she then pulled on the heel to extend it into a long thin bow staff and swung it around at Itachi to let go of her leg. She swung and twirled it around over her head and behind her while running after Itachi. He blocked every one of her blows with the bow staff with his hand and fist and eventually grabbed it from her to break it in half. He tried to grab her running to him again but caught her hair braid instead and cried out in pain. He had forgotten Misaki's dangerous habit of stashing broken Kunai pieces in her hair. Using the moment of his distraction, as she was running she pushed her legs forward and skid on the ground near Itachi's feet to trip him but he jumped out of the way in time.

Panting heavier and her eyes feeling sore, this had to be her last attempt. The sharingan was taking up so much of her chakra and she couldn't even use it to mirror his movements because Itachi knew better to look into her eyes so she can control his mind. She made her rapid hand signs that were too fast for normal eyes to see while jumping in the air for the final move.

"Fire style: flamethrower jutsu" she yelled in the air spinning her head and body around and immediately fire blazed from her mouth in a thin jet stream creating a wall of fire around her with a very wide diameter as she spun. It nearly covered the entire training ground area and created an explosion when it hit the nearby trees. That way Itachi wouldn't be able to get near her now. But of course sure enough Itachi jumped through the wall of fire and stood before her.

"Ninja art: dancing dragon of the leaf" she yelled in frustration quickly changing the handsigns.

The flames of the wall of fire began to snake upwards until three dragons were formed. They were controlled by her movements so Misaki threw her hands forward and moved her body in a snake like 'S' shape to launch them towards Itachi, it was her favourite jutsu-combining dance and art forms with one of her clan's speciality jutsu.

Itachi jumped out of way as expected but she was ready for that, she spun around on her single foot just as she would dancing and the dragon heads tried to spiral themselves around Itachi who avoided them or he would be burned. There wasn't enough chakra for her to keep going so she had to finish it now. She clapped her hands together and the three fire dragons joined together to become one giant dragon head and launch at Itachi from the front while she ran towards him from the back. Even if he ducked now the dragon head would just come after him in any direction he was going. Itachi had no choice but to turn on his own sharingan and make quick handsigns to blow out a fireball from his own mouth even bigger than her dragon head to blow it away from him.

This kept him so busy that he didn't have time to react to Misaki running up behind him and grabbing him by the waist to pull him down as a giant ball of fire roared and blazed above them and went off like a bomb exploding the area ans setting the trees on fire...

They both came crashing down in a cloud of dust on the ground narrowly avoiding the fire blast above their heads. After the dust had settled Misaki opened her eyes and saw that she had done it; she had finally done it. She had Itachi pinned down to the ground.

"I did it finally, I got you down baby" she said breathing hard and grinning widely. Even if it was a small victory as Itachi hadn't been using most of his strength and sharingan to full potential, it still meant that she was improving against him.

"Well done" he said nodding his head. She got off of him and helped him up. It was only then when the both of them heard clapping from people watching them around the training area. There sparring had attracted an audience who marvelled at the skill of two talented Uchiha's. Misaki just looked at Itachi who didn't even acknowledge the crowd. She leaned on him for support; going one-one-one with Itachi was exhausting, not to mention that she wasn't the best at sharingan yet so it really took a lot out of her using it for that long.

"Let's get out of here, it's getting a little crowded" he said picking her up by her legs and putting her over his shoulder to walk all the way to the Uchiha clan area.

"But who is going to put out those fires burning down the trees?" she asked but he wasn't listening to her as he carried on walking. When they arrived at her house back in the Uchiha clan area, she darted straight for some water.

"You want something to drink baby?" she yelled with her head in the fridge.

"Erm no thanks I have to head off now anyway to meet my brother" he said as she returned with some water for he to drink.

"Man, using my sharingan really takes a lot out of me but you still look as fresh as a new-born. I guess I haven't mastered it as well as I wanted" she said guzzling the water down.

"But still you did well today Misa. Keep it up and you might find the ninja who killed your brother after all" he said looking up and down at him; he didn't even break a sweat. He really was like a supernatural being who never got tired.

"I'm not so sure; trying to catch this ninja is like trying to catch air. I haven't found out anything about him nor have I had the time to find out about him" she said.

"I wish that I could help you find him but you know how my hands are tied lately" he said.

"That's okay, it's my burden alone. Anyway, if I don't get the time to see you tomorrow at least I can say that I'll see you at the ANBU assembly in two days' time, where we'll both be going for the first time!" she said excitedly.

Itachi didn't respond but looked away from her. His eyes fell on something that caught his attention on the table that Misaki was resting her elbow on. He peered down and saw something that looked quite peculiar to him. He looked closer and saw his name 'Uchiha Itachi' written in characters on a report sitting on the table. He stared at it before picking it up. Misaki realised what he was looking at, but before she could react…

"What's this?" he asked picking it up to look at it.

Misaki stared in horror at him: Itachi had just found out that he was being investigated by the ANBU and the Konoha police force. He had found about it before Shisui could explain to him. The reports just like the one Misaki did were done by the ANBU for suspicious persons and to keep information about people in the village who they had been watching. She had completely forgotten about removing it from the table or giving it back to the one who had compiled it. He read the profile containing information gathered about his 'suspicious behaviour' except for the night he met up with the blonde imposter because Misaki never reported it. She figured that it was best to be open with him to an extent so that a storm wouldn't erupt.

"It's a person of interest profile" she said quietly coming clean.

"Yes I know what it is, what I want to know is why my name is featured on this profile" he said in his usual soft-spoken cool demeanour though Misaki could hear from his tone that he was exercising some willpower to remain calm.

"It's just a profile of you and what you've been up to; I guess someone thought that you needed to be watched" she said trying to navigate through rough seas.

"And you didn't think it was necessary to tell me that I was being surveillanced by my own team?" He said slightly raising his voice. He slapped the profile back onto the desk in anger and turned away from her.

"I didn't know!" she said startled by his anger. "I only found out yesterday when this profile was given to me; it's not even mine. I didn't compile it" she said placing her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Whose is it?" he demanded taking her hand off of his shoulder and holding onto it.

She hesitated before talking again. It was against the law for her to tell the name of the ANBU operative that was investigating him. The again she didn't want to get him angrier at her and she figured that he was an ANBU anyway so he would have found out eventually.

"It belongs to Shisui" she said softly.

Itachi was so angry now that his sharingan eyes switched on involuntarily. Misaki gasped at him; she didn't know that he had learned to control his sharingan so well that it activated by itself. But her surprise was cut short by Itachi's firm grip on her hand which seemed to get tighter.

"Itachi let go of my hand, you're squeezing my hand too tight" she said but he wasn't listening.

"I'm so sick of these ignorant people who don't understand anything" he said talking to himself as if he was delirious.

"Ouch! Itachi, let go of my arm" she said as his grip tightened and pain seared through her arm.

"What do they know of suspicion and how important this is? I've had enough" he said to him

"Itachi, let go of my arm, you're hurting me!" she yelled in pain trying to pull her arm from his grasp; it felt like her bone was being crushed. Itachi immediately snapped out of it and let her arm go. His red sharingan eyes went back to their usual onyx and looked at Misaki who was clutching her arm in pain.

"Misa, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I, I wasn't thinking" he panted trying to hold her.

She didn't respond to him; they both stared at each other shocked by what he just did. He had never spaced out like that and hurt her before. She didn't know what to make of it. Misaki couldn't tell what was more severe; the pain in her hand or the worry of Itachi's strange behaviour. How much of it would she have to tolerate before he really did something unforgivable that cost him his career?

"It's okay, but please Itachi don't be mad at me or at Shisui, we were both just doing our jobs you know. I couldn't tell you because it's against the rules. You just happened to find out before Shisui could explain" she said desperately.

He remained silent and watched her nursing her hand before speaking. "I understand…. I have to go now, I have to meet my brother" he said calmly. She nodded her head as words were failing her now. He turned to leave but stopped at the door when putting his shoes back on.

"Oh and Misa, I'm sorry" he said walking back inside the house to quickly kiss her cheek then her pained hand.

"Forget about it" she said walking him back to the door to watch him leave. When he finally left Misaki went to fetch ice for her throbbing hand which was already starting to heal but that wasn't the point. She was gutted that she had ruined such a perfect day with Itachi and she didn't want him to be mad at her either. But what was bothering her the most is what had happened to her. She couldn't understand why he had hurt her without even realising it. She wondered how it would play out with him and Shisui; it would probably end up with Itachi hating him. But she decided to remain positive and figured that he had been too angry to think rationally. She couldn't blame him though, she would be equally angry if she was in his shoes. But how much more of this weird Itachi would she have to deal with?

As Misaki was bandaging her hand in the kitchen her parents walked in and her mother immediately noticed her hand.

"Misaki what happened to your hand?" her mother asked worriedly.

"I just got injured while training today" she lied

"Good, at least we know that you're not slacking" said her father.

Misaki was certain that she would throw or break something if she didn't get away but her anger boiled over before she could get away. She picked up the glass of water she had been drinking and threw it against the wall and her mother screamed in a scare when it shattered on impact.

"Misaki!" she exclaimed in surprised but her father was having none of it.

"Misaki watch your temper young lady!" he said angrily as she walked to her room yelling back to her parents.

"I can't do this; I can't take this shit anymore. If you don't care about me then leave me alone"

"Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you and don't use such foul unlady like language at me"

She ran to her bedroom to get away from all the yelling. Closing the door, she leaned against the wall and tried to calm down. She knew immediately that it wasn't just her father who had upset her, as he was always being a jerk. She knew that it was Itachi that had set her off. It was more like disappointment than anger. She had never seen Itachi so angry at her and Shisui and she was annoyed at herself for not working harder to keep the news from him until Shisui could explain it. She bandaged her hand and sat thinking, anticipating what would become the three of them at the assembly in tow days time. Then she took out her white diary and put pen to paper as per usual.


	6. Day 4: Warning

Day 4: Warning

"See this is what we call a bow and arrow" said Misaki to the young female shinobi outside the academy training ground. She was pointing at the giant bow and arrow strapped on her back where her katana was usually strapped to her.

The young kunoichi concentrating intently on the giant weapon Misaki was holding were enthralled. Teaching the kunoichi of the village was an important service she did for the village in her spare time as she saw it, there weren't enough women getting to the top, she knew that all too well being the only female ANBU black op for a few of the great hidden villages.

"Wow it's huge and weird. I don't think I've seen a weapon like this before" said one girl.

"Well, it's not exactly a traditional ninja weapon in any sense, but I converted it into one when I took it from a shinobi I fought a few years ago. See girls, innovation can be an important and special tool in your arsenal"

"So what does it do then? Your bow and arrow?"

She leaned in so she could speak to the girls quietly. "It takes away chakra. If I fire one of these arrows at someone and it hits them, then their chakra gets drastically depleted. It's great to use on missions where I battle powerful shinobi. But I haven't found a way to store the chakra it eats; I'm still working on that."

"Ooooh!" echoed the kunoichi.

"What about your fire jutsu or red mirror wheel eye, can you teach us that to?" she pleaded along with the others.

"Sorry girls but I can't exactly teach you that technique because its clan specific, it's one of the Uchiha clan's speciality blood trait jutsu or kekkei genkai"

"Okay then can you train us to do something else?"

"Hmmm...how old are you girls now anyway?" she asked placing her hands on her hips

"Juuissai (eleven)" they chorused

"Well then when you girls go back to the academy tomorrow for the start of the new school year one of the first practical tests you will be doing is the shadow clone jutsu so I can help you prac-

"Miss Uchiha?" came someone from behind.

"Yes?" she said turning around to see a messenger standing behind them, his uniform showed that he was from the hokage's office.

"You have been summoned by lord hokage. He needs to see you immediately"

"Aaaaah!" wined the kids

"I'm so sorry girls I have to go. It sounds pretty urgent, but I will make it up to you later, but in the meantime keep practising so you can be ready for when the academy opens tomorrow"

"But you're supposed to train us today!" pouted one of the girls.

"I know but something has just come up. Sumimasen (sorry). I'll see you girls' later okay? Bye"

She headed towards the hokage's office with the messenger still wearing her usual navy blue tank top and a skirt with side slits on the panels so she could reach her unique utility belt strapped on underneath if need be. There was no time to change however as the calling from the authority of the village sounded pretty serious. Being summoned by the hokage at that time was pretty unusual when everyone was preparing for the assembly and wouldn't have time for anything else.

"So what's this all about anyway? Did a mission come up?"

"I think so, I'm not sure of the details, but we'd better hurry"

When they arrived at the hokage's office there were two other ANBU operatives there, Daisuke and Tadashi who were waiting for her along with her ANBU captain Ichiro.

"Ah Misaki you've arrived" said their captain Ichiro standing next to two other ANBU operatives.

"Yes captain, lord hokage. Is there a problem?" she said bowing to them both.

"Not exactly a problem, just a mission for the three of you… An assassination mission" Ichiro said.

Misaki looked at the other two operatives in surprise. Assassinations were usually only carried out after a significant time of investigation and preparation. Not to mention that the ANBU assembly was the next day and going on a mission they weren't prepared for prior to, they might not be back in time.

"Assassination? But we haven't prepared for anything or anyone. Who is so much of a threat that we need them eliminated immediately?" asked Tadashi.

"This is the information we have so far. We've received a scroll from the feudal lord of a small town just outside our borders deep in fire country. They have requested the assassination of a rogue ninja and criminal from the sound village plaguing their town but they don't have any shinobi to take care of it. The feudal lord has warned any outsiders that they will be terminated if they come within their town and this shinobi along with his cronies have been causing a lot of trouble. May I remind you that these shinobi are from the sound village which we still don't know much about so be careful.

Now I know that it's not traditional to ask ANBU to go out and assassinate people outside the village but everyone else is busy preparing for the opening of the academy for the new school year and the ANBU black ops assembly tomorrow so we have no choice"

"Isn't there a jonin who can take care of this since we have the assembly tomorrow" complained Tadashi.

"No, all the jonin are preparing to be assigned their new students who will be graduating from the academy and become genin. They're busy as well. You three were the only ones not given an assignment for today" said captain Ichiro.

"I don't mean to question you lord hokage but is it really a good idea to send us on an assassinations mission now when the ANBU assembly is tomorrow? I mean what if we don't come back in time because the mission is taking too long to carry out?" asked Misaki.

Captain Ichiro placed his hands on his temples; clearly the stress was getting to him and he was the authority so he had to make a decision

"Lord hokage, I'm going to take a gamble and send three of my operatives into fire country to assassinate a rogue ninja destroying a small town there. I just want to send them now instead of after the assembly tomorrow because we might lose this person, just like we did the imposter Misaki was tracking last week, they will be back by nightfall, I can guarantee that"

Before the hokage could speak Misaki had a thought, there was someone who would be able to take care of this quickly and easily.

"Where is Itachi? He's the most skilled of all of us, why doesn't he go? I mean if nobody has time to do this he can have it done in a few hours"

"He's busy on another mission, so you three will have to do this on your own. Do you accept?"

They all agreed to do the mission but Misaki's mind shot back to Itachi. He had come home from a mission yesterday, he had been sent on a mission today and he was supposed to attend a mission and the ANBU assembly tomorrow. He had been on back-to-back missions with only a few hours rest. Being the best was costing him his downtime as he was always on demand. It sounded gruelling and unfair to her.

Misaki shifted the mask back on to cover her face and nodded to her teammates. They escaped out the window and ran along the telephone lines to the gates of the village. When the heavy Iron Gate was opened they headed out of the leaf village scattering among the dense trees that surrounded Konoha.

Upon arriving to the town in fire country, they were taken to the leader of the village or feudal lord who had requested the assassination. He greeted them and Misaki's team told them of the plan. The hidden leaf village had a policy of always trying a 'silent assassination' where their target would be killed quickly and quietly to avoid any dramatic events unfolding and to keep surrounding people out of danger. Having been told that the men had a habit of going to a local pub for their entertainment and causing trouble there, Misaki came up with the plan to disguise herself like one of the waitresses there and would slip a vial of deadly poison in whatever drink was ordered by their target.

After the feudal lord had made the waiters of the pub aware of the plan, they sent Misaki their uniform so she got dressed into the attire of the waitresses at the bar- an exquisite beige knee-length kimono with and full face white powder make up with red lips. They placed a two-way radio and earpiece in their ears for communication and were then escorted to a pub where their target was located.

"Wait for my signal, then if need be you can attack him if it gets out of hand. I don't want to underestimate him" she said to Daisuke and Tadashi at the staff entrance at the back of the pub. Her two teammates nodded and disappeared with the blink of an eye to the rooftop. Misaki walked inside and greeted the other female waitresses serving drinks and food to the customers; they were also in on the mission. It seemed as if everyone was afraid of their target and his cronies as they were concentrated at a big table in the middle while everyone else was sitting around the edges of the pub and no one seemed to go near them. She was given a robe to tie around her waist and went straight to suspect zero's table for his order. He was a thin man, very young-looking but had an arrogant smile on his face.

"Good day to you all I'm Yumi and I'll be taking your order today. What will it be gentleman?"

The rowdy table of men weren't paying much attention until they saw her and were suddenly interested in what she said.

"Just the usual drinks little girl" said her target rudely smacking her butt. Misaki had to pause and take a breath for a second before continuing or she might have killed him just then.

"Coming right up" she said through clenched teeth.

When she got to the back she told one of the waitresses to place the order of whatever their usual drinks were. Once the drinks were ready Misaki looked around and when she was in the clear she took out a vial from her pocket and pulled out the stopper. Within it contained a deadly transparent liquid conjured up by one of the legendary san nin Lady Tsunade when she was still part of the leaf medical core a few years back. It was to be used for what they called silent assassinations. The moment the liquid was drunk by their target it would suck his insides dry. She poured a tiny drop into one of the steaming hot cups of tea. Then she placed the vial back into her swathes of clothing.

"Guys I have the target in sight with the tea of doom" she said over the radio in her ear.

She walked back to the table and served them their drinks making sure she gave the tea of doom to the right person.

"Enjoy your drinks sir" she said walking back to the hallway and waiting for their target to take a swig of the deadly poison.

"The tea of doom is in place; now we just need to wait" she said.

Now all they had to do was wait and see. She really just wanted to be done quickly so she can return to the leaf village… The criminal brought the drink to his lips but-stopped abruptly as something caught his attention. He lowered the cup and stared at it then brought it back up to smell it. Misaki immediately knew that the criminal was suspicious of his drink. If he found out that it was poisoned he might come after her and cause a scene inside the pub so she had to leave, for the safety of the others. She didn't want to use up her chakra on her sharingan and genjutsu with these guys but didn't underestimate him.

As soon as she turned her head away she noticed the criminal stand up and look at her. If she was lucky enough he would follow her out of the pub along with his cronies. She got to the back of the staff entrance and took of the apron. It wouldn't be enough for her to get her target outside; she needed to lure his friends out as well somehow, which is why she made a cross with her middle fingers and index fingers on both hands and a poof of smoke erupted from her. Once she was done she continued walking and smiling where she could at passing staff of the pub until she reached the exit and walked out into the deserted street.

She kept her head low staring at the ground and listening to the echoing of her heels assaulting the hard ground until she heard another pair of feet behind her. She was being followed just like she wanted. But it was no time for sudden moves as she knew that the longer the criminal bought the idea of her being a helpless woman she would be in the clear. She carried on walking as if nothing had changed and the man followed her.

"'Scuse me?" came the voice behind her. She stopped in her tracks but didn't respond or turn around.

"I think you're a little lost"

She turned around and played the innocent and vulnerable woman too easily.

"No I know exactly where I am going" she said fake smiling confidently through her red lips.

"And where might that be?"

"Oh I'm sorry but is there a problem that you have with me?"

"I think there is. Maybe you'd like to tell me why you poisoned my tea and tried to kill me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" she said fake sweetly.

"My acute sense of hearing made me hear the bubbling of a strange liquid inside. Tell me who you are working for!"

So he had an excellent sense of hearing but it didn't tell her much about what he was capable of. She would have to keep her guard up.

"Really sir I don't know what you're talking about"

Maybe this will get you to talk!" he said running full speed towards her and making quick hand signs. She stood where she was not moving an inch.

"NINJA ART- SOUND BLASTING JUTSU" he said and his mouth flew open wider than any normal human being and a deafening scream coming in sound waves came blasting at her. She immediately covered her ears as her eardrums felt like they were going to burst.

She screamed in agony at the attack on her ears and fell to the ground. The satisfied criminal walked up to her with his smug face. He pulled out a kunai knife as she watched him unable to get up. He stabbed the knife into her throat and she disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Huh? A shadow clone!" he said in surprise but it was too late. The real Misaki was standing behind him holding her giant kunai knife that was strapped to her thigh by her utility belt to his neck.

"Big mistake" she said hoping her plan was still going to work. The criminal merely smiled at her as if he still had another back up plan.

Immediately about a dozen men came from nowhere and surrounded Misaki pointing their own ninja weapons at her and staring hungrily at her.

"Bigger mistake" said the criminal but unknowingly to them this was her plan from the start. Attack the leader and have his cronies come out and defend him so they wouldn't mess up the pub or get any innocent people hurt.

The all stared each other down before everything happened. One guy came screaming after her with his own katana weapon ready to swing at her but she grabbed her victim's neck and ducked while pulling him down with her. She had to keep him close to her or they might just run away with him while the rest keep her busy. She kicked the katana back into his now bleeding face with her one foot while still hanging onto the criminal's neck. Daisuke and Tadashi joined the fight when they saw that she was being attacked. All the criminals cronies came to them at once but Misaki had to still hold onto her victim. All five of them swung their katana and blades at her so she pushed the criminal away from her and jumped in the air and flipped over them and grabbed the criminal from behind and pulled him down with her. She really didn't want to go out to a full battle with these guys so she decided to end it right then and there.

"Paralysis jutsu" she yelled and all the men froze up and fell to the ground.

Daisuke and Tadashi quickly ran up to her and helped her up. She let go of the criminal while Daisuke pulled him to his feet. Unfortunately the tea he was supposed to drink didn't kill him so now they had to do it by hand. Something inside her was never for assassinating people she didn't know so she allowed Daisuke to pull him to drag him by his knees in the dirt away for him to be killed. As much as Misaki wanted to turn away, she had to see their mission being carried out to the last step.

But something about the criminal caught her attention. She stepped closer to see what was on his clothing. It was only then when she saw it… a sound village headband on his collar. It all made sense to her now; the sound jutsu he used against her shadow clone and the acute sense of hearing the poison bubbling in his tea. He really was a sound shinobi. But that wasn't all because she saw something else on his person. A photo of a cloak with a red cloud. The same blacj cloak with a red cloud she saw on the shark like imposter talking to Itachi a week back and that she had inside her desk drawer. It was at that moment that she realised one thing. They couldn't kill this ninja. He was a means of information. Everything that she wanted to know about who Itachi was talking to and the sound village that her brother was killed going to was with this person, but first she had to save his life as Daisuke was about to stab a kunai into his neck.

"Wait! Don't!" she cried so loudly it startled her teammates, Daisuke who was about to break his neck and stab him stopped immediately in startle.

"What! What is it?!" he said recovering from being startled; they all stared at her in surprise along with their criminal.

"Don't put him to sleep just yet"

"Why not? We've already finished his allies off with the paralysing jutsu"

"Please just trust me" she breathed dusting herself off. Her teammate didn't relent on his tight grip of the ninja but he did let go of his neck. He didn't want to let his guard down for even a second.

"Okay, so what do you want us to do with him?"

Misaki thought for a while before answering him back. "Take him back to the village. I want him to be my prisoner"

"What! Why? Our orders were to assassinate him"

"I know, but I think that he might have some more information about who he's working for. If we kill him, some valuable information will die with him"

"But Misaki-

"We don't have time to argue, please just trust me. We're going to bring him back to the village and you'll see what I'm talking about" affirmed Misaki.

Her teammates sighed and begrudgingly pulled out their metal rope from their utility pouches and started tying him up. Their captive looked overly pleased seeing that he was not going to be killed and it gave him a boost of confidence. He started laughing while Misaki flung a drawstring net over him and pulled it tight so they could drag him back to the village.

"Stupid move little girl, taking me back to your village. You should've finished me when you had the chance!" he barked with his rotting teeth and overconfident smile. Misaki crouched down to his level to speak to him.

"Listen here, I just spared your pathetic life so you better coöperate when we get back to the village or I might have to reconsider this act of charity" she threatened standing up to drag him along but the criminal just sniggered at her.

When they got back to the village an hour later, Misaki and her team marched straight to the ANBU black ops core in the hokage's building and mansion. Once there she cut the net used to carry the criminal and pulled him into the main office of their ANBU captain Ichiro.

They burst into his office where he was busy with a body of other operatives with one of them being Shisui discussing something. When he saw the criminal and Misaki with her teammates, he stopped immediately. Misaki focused on captain Ichiro and ignored that Shisui was standing next to him and the sudden burst of guilt she felt.

"Sorry to interrupt you captain Ichiro but I found the criminal and request he be taken in for questioning" she said confidently.

"You were supposed to get rid of him. That was your assignment"

"I know sir, but I believe that he has valuable information about the investigation I carried out on the imposter a week ago, they both have similarities I found. It's just like you said captain, we lost track of the imposter but we can use this criminal as a connection back to him. He could be a key witness in finding out the bigger picture" She threw the thought of Itachi out of her mind meeting the imposter.

"That's fantastic! Well done Misaki" he said clapping his hands together excitedly. "Shisui notify the hokage about all this and send for the interrogations and torture core to their stations. Daisuke and Tadashi take this enemy ninja down to the interrogations chamber and I'll go and inform the interrogations and torture core so they can conduct their speciality. Everyone else come with me. Let's move, let's move, let's move" he said clapping his hands at them all and speaking hurriedly. Everyone in the room swiftly sprang into action and did as they were told while Misaki and the rest of the black ops in the room followed captain Ichiro down to the interrogations chamber along with Daisuke and Tadashi who had difficulty hauling the criminal down with them walking through the narrow hallway.

"What makes you sub-standard leaf shinobi think that I'll talk anyway. You can't make me sing!" said the criminal arrogantly while Daisukeand Tadashi struggled with him

"Thanks Misaki you made us look bad" came Tadashi from behind.

"It's not my fault that you didn't want to look good" she said cheekily.

As they arrived at the chamber by the interrogations and torture core Misaki and the rest of the group of available ANBU black ops waited outside the door as their captain Ichiro sent for the head of the notoriously specialised core.

A few minutes later the two chunin returned flanking the intimidating and highly respected head of the interrogations and torture core of the ANBU black ops-Ibiki Morino or Scarface as she and her friends grew up calling him. He was known for being thorough and known as a sadist to others and ruthless. This criminal didn't know what was coming to him. They walked in and pulled the criminal with them and slammed the door.

Within thirty minutes there was already screaming inside the room coming from the criminal.

"That took quicker than I would've thought" said someone

"That's the genius of Ibiki he can torture someone without actually touching them and make them say anything he wants" said captain Ichiro.

Misaki couldn't keep still; she was feeling antsy about the information the criminal was hiding. She was dying to know about the connection with the criminal and the sound village. But she wouldn't be allowed to go and interrogate him herself so she needed to make some sort of plan. But for now she had to wait for results.

Ibiki emerged straight-faced as usual carrying some files and sitting everyone down at a table with the hokage sitting at the front.

"Lord hokage we may have to add a few last-minute files of information to the assembly for tomorrow as a top priority. We found out that this criminal is Akira originally resides in the hidden sound village in the land of rice paddies. As we all know this new sound village that just sprung up from nowhere is still under the radar for information, but, what the criminal told us you won't like. He says that he's a pawn meant to gather information and act as a spy for some organisation in return for power from a certain person"

"And who might that be? Who is he working for?" asked the hokage.

Ibiki gave a short pause before continuing. "One of the legendary san-nin and super S class ranked criminal Orochimaru"

The entire room froze. The information they were hearing was a game changer. The unsettling news that one of the most dangerous ninja in history was active again would turn their world around. They knew all too well how much of a pain he was being from the same village as them.

"That's impossible, Orochimaru is dead" gasped Misaki

"You know better than to believe the rumours you dislike so much miss Uchiha. Besides that's not our biggest concern. Orochimaru may be working with others in some groupings outside the village. It seems like he's being active again.

"And I can bet you this criminal isn't the only one spying on others for Orochimaru. Who knows how many there are?"

"We'll have to discuss this further tomorrow at the assembly. For now we need to take care of the paperwork, everyone dismissed" said the hokage.

As unsettling as it was to hear that Orochimaru was active somewhere in the world, Misaki had more pressing matters to get to. She still wanted to talk to the criminal she had brought back to the village. Her gut feeling told her that there could be a connection between him and her brother's killer and the shark-like imposter; this may be the only opportunity to find out.

While everyone else filed out of the room, Misaki waited until the corridor was deserted before heading in the opposite direction as everyone else towards the interrogation room but to her misfortune the door was being guarded by Ibiki himself. It would prove tough to get him to let her in. He had a reputation of being a hard ass but she had to at least try. She walked up the corridor to the door.

"May I help you miss Uchiha?" he asked puzzled by her approaching the door.

"Listen Ibiki, I have a favour to ask. I need to go in there and ask this criminal some questions" she whispered afraid that someone might hear her.

Ibiki just gave her a look that read 'wasting your time'."That's out of the question. You know you're not allowed inside there after my core has done their job. You don't have the qualifications to interrogate him"

"I know, I know. I'm not going to interrogate him; I just need to know a few things please. It's the reason why I brought him back here instead of assassinating him when I was supposed to"

"Why? What do you want to know from him so badly?"

"I want to know if there's a connection between him and the ninja who could've killed my brother"

"Your brother was killed in the land of tea"

"Yes, but he was on his way to the sound village on a mission to investigate this new mysterious sound village when he and his team were ganged up on by ninja who were en route to the same place. These ninja clearly didn't want my brother going to investigate the sound village so they could've killed him. This is the only chance I will ever have to find out about who killed Masahiro"

"I'm sorry Miss Uchiha but I have to follow protocol" Misaki grabbed fistfuls of her hair in stress, she needed to get inside.

"C'mon Ibiki you of all people should understand what I'm going through. When your brother Idate was tricked into stealing our sacred scrolls, who was the one that helped him clear his innocence and find employment in the land of tea with Jirocho of the rain village"

"That's because you felt sorry for me because of what happened to your own brother, I didn't ask you to help him. You see Misaki you can't allow yourself to be ruled by your emotions as a shinobi. And don't you ever try to use the family card to try and persuade me, I am an interrogations and torture specialist, I know all the tricks of the trade and they won't work against me."

Misaki felt her frustrations clouding her mind; she felt like giving up but carried on being persistent. "Please Ibiki, I won't be five minutes!"

"Even if you could, this criminal isn't in the right condition for questions. We've just made him torture himself to extract information from him. I'd be surprised if he could open his eyes"

"That's why I just got to try. Please Ibiki, my brother! I just want to find out who killed him so I can go after him and move on" she whined.

Ibiki shook his head but added "You have no more than five minutes, then I'll throw you out myself if I have to..."

She walked inside and found the criminal clutching his hair madly and looking down. He was trembling and sweating all over his body.

"Hey. HEY!" she yelled at him when he didn't look at her. He lifted his head and eyes slightly and checked her out from top to bottom then gave her a sadistic smile that made him seem crazier as she sat down opposite him.

"Well well. I didn't get the chance to see you properly when you kidnapped me earlier on with your disguise. So you're Itachi's hot piece of ass, he certainly doesn't pick from the bottom of the barrel does he?" he said the criminal known as Akira with wide unblinking eyes like he'd lost his mind.

"H-how do you know Itachi?" she asked shocked. It just confirmed the notion that there was a connection between this criminal, the imposter and Itachi.

He gave a quick scary, mad laugh "He's quite known from my parts"

"And where exactly are your parts? Is it the sound village?"

"What does my headband say lady?" he said looking down again, he looked as if he was going to be sick all over the floor but she pressed on.

"Who is your Kage? Who is the Kage of the sound village?"

"Why don't you go there and find out"

"You said that Itachi is well-known in your parts. Is someone interested in eliminating him or after him?"

He gave another laugh. "Are you kidding me? As if anyone would be so bold"

"Then is he after someone from there?"

"Why are you asking me? You're his girlfriend go and ask him... You're not going to ask him are you? What's a matter trust issues?" she ignored his comment.

She took out the photograph he dropped of the cloak that was on the imposter's finger.

"What is this cloak for? What does the red cloud mean or symbolise?"

"What makes you think that I know?"

"I found this photo in your clothing and I've seen a suspect wearing this cloak a week ago. I want to know what it means and what the connection is between you and the shark-like imposter who wore this cloak"

"I told you everything I know and everything they've asked me" he said still staring down at the ground.

"But not everything I've asked!" she said losing patience.

"What do you want from me lady?" he said looking up at her again and breathing hard, he was almost at his limit.

"More information! Six months ago a shinobi from our village, my brother was en route to your sound village but was ambushed in the land of tea by other shinobi going to the same place. I want to know if you know who they were. Do you know of any shinobi who was travelling from the land of tea to the sound village six months ago?"

"What's in it for me?"

"I will personally ask for the ANBU core to spare your life if you tell me what I want to know"

He considered this but didn't answer back. Misaki took this as an agreement.

"Fine then, at least answer me this: I want know what's going on in the sound village. Why does nobody come back unscathed when going there, what kind of shinobi is that village training?"

"What do you mean; it's a village like any other. Just because it's younger than the great hidden villages doesn't make it a bad thing"

"Where's Orochimaru. Is he working with other people besides you?"

"Lord Orochimaru doesn't _work_ with other people; he doesn't need to with all his great power"

There was a hard knock on the door, it meant Misaki's time was almost up or that someone was coming. She was on the verge of panic.

"What do you mean? If you don't start making sense I'm warning you-

"No I'M WARNING YOU LADY!" he yelled so crazily that it frightened her.

"Don't worry so much for the people behind you as much as the people directly in front of you. There's one thing you can always be certain of… your enemies will never be the ones to betray you" he said cryptically. Misaki stared at him frightfully; clearly he knew something that he was not going to tell her.

Unfortunately she was forced to leave as the banging on the door grew louder. She could hear footsteps nearing the room but she had to get out of there quickly...

"Ibiki, how is he?" asked captain Ichiro walking up to him and peering inside.

"Good sir, well relatively speaking. We may have to keep him alive for a little longer because he hasn't told us everything he knows"

"I understand"

As he turned his head he saw Misaki walking away head bowed with no indication that she had just been inside with the criminal.

"Misaki-chan?"

"Yes captain Ichiro?" she said turning around and trying to maintain her innocence.

"Great job today. You and Itachi have only been in the ANBU black ops for six months and already you're showing amazing potential. What more could be expected from the Uchiha's right!"

"Arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much)" she said distractedly.

"I'll see you at the ANBU assembly tomorrow"

She gave him a low bow and left before he had a chance to find out what she was still doing there. It was completely frustrating for her to come so close to finding out about the imposter and her brother's murder and not find out anything in the end. But she wondered what the criminal meant by worrying about people directly in front of you. What was it that he didn't tell her...

Returning to the Uchiha clan late at night and passing Itachi's house she could hear his father reprimanding him. It sounded just like he had just come back from his last minute mission again. She really wanted to see him and ask him whether he'd sorted out his issues with Shisui but his father sounded angry.

"What do you mean you can't make it to the assembly tomorrow?" yelled his father. This made Misaki stop in her tracks. She needed to know why Itachi wouldn't make it to the meeting.

"I have a mission tomorrow and its covert"

"Itachi don't you know that you are the Uchiha clan's direct line to the centre of this village"

"Yes I do know"

"So you will go to the ANBU assembly tomorrow. That's an order"

Misaki walked away having had enough eavesdropping on the first Uchiha clan family. She hated the way Itachi's father ordered his kids around and was using Itachi to get the Uchiha clan back into power. Itachi and Sasuke were such good kids and didn't deserve him bullying them around and throwing his wait around with them… If anything she really wanted to tell Itachi that she'd forgiven him for hurting her hand but now obviously wasn't the best time- hopefully they would have a chance to talk at the assembly. She walked back home with her empathetic heart feeling a little weighty, she needed her tiny white diary for comfort.


	7. Day 5: Absent

Day 5: Absent 

The early morning of the next day saw Misaki up early to fit in some training before the ANBU Black ops assembly and the opening of the Academy and the start of the academic year for the young ninja of Konoha. Finally it was the ANBU assembly and the Academy opening day. For Misaki this would be her first time at the assembly along with Itachi. She woke up and put on her floor length white robes and left for the garden with her Katana. As she swung and guided her sword in the air for practise her mind was not as focused as she would've wanted. The incident with Itachi finding out about him being investigated; the ANBU assembly and her late brother were all recurring themes in her head.

After practising for a few hours and the sun now steadily rising, Misaki showered, ate, ignored her father's lecture on leaving a lasting impression at the assembly and got dressed in her ANBU black ops uniform. In her room she kissed the picture of her late brother hanging on the wall.

"Still can't believe that I have to do this without you, after all the talk we had of you watching me in my ANBU uniform, this would have been my first time going, I really wanted you to be there. Big brother." she said softly as if her brother were still there with her. With a heavy heart, she took out a smaller picture of him she had kept in her white diary and placed it in her pocket. That way he would at least be with her one way or another. She was about to leave her room when her mother walked in. She looked at her daughter like she was looking at her for the very first time.

"Oh, Misakie, you look so beautiful" she gasped standing in the doorway.

"Okasan, I always dress like this when I'm on duty" she said amused by her mother's doting.

"I know but today is a special day; it's the first ANBU assembly you'll be attending. I can't believe it's already been a half year since you've been an operative. I only wish…" she trailed off unable to talk about her passed son. Misaki felt it too, so excited but sorrowful that she wasn't joined by her brother.

"Don't think about it too much momma, Masahiro would want us to be happy and to celebrate with the rest of the village and the clan. I do this for him and for you and for Itachi and this clan and village and the hokage…" she said choking back tears.

"I'm so proud of you Misakie" whispered her mother walking up to her and giving her a hug for comfort as a tear fell on her kind face.

"Your father said that he couldn't see you off today as he has a lot of work to do at the Konoha police force. He has to fill in the duties for Itachi's father as Fugaku had to attend the starting of the academy for his youngest son"

Misaki couldn't expect anything less from her father being the cold and closed off person he was who wouldn't even bother to watch his daughter go off on an important day. She would just have to prove to him that she's better than he thought.

"I hope something comes my way" she said

"What are you hoping for?"

"I don't know, maybe they would recommend me joining the tracker ninja core of the black ops? Who knows? Being a tracker might help me to find the ninja who killed my big brother... Anyways, I'll see you later then" she said kissing her mother on the cheek and putting on her animal mask and checking that she had her Katana before leaving out of the window.

She ran across the roof and jumped across to other rooftops to get out of the Uchiha clan area. She wondered if she should go to Itachi's house to meet up with him there so they could go together but she was already running late. She sped up her running but she still noticed the flurry of activity going on below. Hundreds of Konohagakuri people were making their way to The Academy located on the largest street in the village leading to the hokage's main tower and residence. The village was abuzz with peoples and their families waiting to see the newest ninja starting their training for the first time. Misaki loved seeing the village at this time of year when everyone in all the communities came to see the ninja in charge of their safety and the children responsible for Konoha's future.

She got to the Academy which was already full of the shy yet proud new students with their parents and families who were invited to come and see their children off to begin their journey as ninja's in training. Misaki walked up to the fourth floor balcony where the hokage stood waiting for everyone below in the courtyard to arrive so that he can speak. She greeted her fellow ANBU operatives and stood behind the hokage just like the rest of the twenty four numbered team to provide him with optimal protection.

"Hey Misaki, ready for later?" asked fellow ANBU operative Hayete from behind her

"You bet, can't believe it's my first meeting. Doki doki" she said referring to the beating of her heart.

"I know all you Uchiha will do just fine. Shinpai muyo (Don't worry)" he said. She nodded at him with flurries of nerves setting in her stomach.

The proceedings began when all the sensei of the Academy and the four jonin had arrived along with the new students and their parents as well as Ichiro Miyake, the captain of the ANBU black ops dressed in all white robes. Sarutobi Hokage walked to the edge of the balcony to address the crowd below.

"Ladies and gentleman, parents and new students of the Academy, On behalf of the Elders of the Hidden leaf Village and the Hokages of Konohagakure, I welcome you all finally to this glorious and auspicious day of the beginning of the academic calendar year…" he shouted to the crowd as they applauded him.

Misaki, standing by the Hokage along with the rest of the ANBU operatives on the fourth floor balcony, took a good look at the crop of kids that would be starting the Academy for the first time. Given her position at the fourth floor balcony gave her the best aerial view of them. She saw that most of them looked pretty pleased with themselves as they should be. She looked at the pastel pink, purple, and blonde haired kunoichi who she hoped to have as apprentices one day as the village was seriously lacking in strong and formidable female ninja and for leadership role models for young aspiring kunoichi to look up to, especially with the legendary san-nin Tsunade having left the village. She would have to change being the only female ANBU operative in three villages.

Then she saw the spunky yet misunderstood jinchuriki boy with big ambitions she had made a special report on; he stood out with his glowing spikey bright blond hair and dazzling smile, and whiskers on his cheeks probably caused by the nine tailed fox sealed inside him. He always made her smile with his upbeat go getter attitude. What was it that they called him? The number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja. Then her eyes fell on Itachi's little brother who was looking at his father in the crowd. It looked like he was trying to get him to notice him where he was. The Uchiha sibling curse was strong inside him; he had a thirst to prove himself to his father that he was as good as his big brother, just like most Uchiha children including herself…

"…Today marks the beginning of the future of the young peoples who have chosen to become the shinobi of this village and therefore safeguard the future of this village in their hands. To all the parents and families, I ask for you to play your parts in encouraging, supporting and managing the academic careers and practical aspects of these ninja's-in-training. They will need you to be there for them when their sensei's cannot. And to all of you new students, congratulations for making it this far but I must emphasise that this is only the beginning. The path that you will follow when you walk into the doors of this Academy will require an unseen amount of hard work, dedication, sacrifice and duty but everyone in this village has confidence in your abilities and we are proud of all of you. Good luck…"

After Lord Hokage's speech everyone applauded again and broke up to talk and greet, and say their goodbyes to family and for parents to talk to the sensei of their children. Misaki took the opportunity of all the commotion to look for Itachi but couldn't spot him. She stood where she was on the fourth floor balcony and scanned the ground while keeping her eye on the Hokage who was making his way downstairs to chat to some of the people down below.

"_I forgot, Itachi said to his father last night that he would be going on a short mission today, but surely he would only go after the ANBU meeting and the opening ceremony, since his own brother was here? Also because of the argument he had with his father, he wouldn't disobey a direct order from the likes of him_" she said in her head but she attempted to find him anyway. She walked around and unfortunately couldn't do much greeting as she still had her mask on and no one recognised her. Then she spotted her best friend Anko Mitarashi and walked downstairs.

"Hey Ankie" she said approaching the sassy purple haired Anko who was talking to someone on the ground floor.

"Missy, is that you?" she asked trying to figure out who was under the animal mask.

"Yeah, it's me, I was wondering if you knew where Itachi is, I can't find him" she asked

"No sorry I haven't seen him" she said shaking her head along with the guy she was talking to. "He's probably lost in the crowd somewhere, maybe talking to his little brother or something" she said.

Misaki sighed frustrated; she had been hoping to talk to him before the ANBU assembly had begun.

"But hey did you receive my letter about tomorrow's day off?" asked Anko

"Yes I did, but thanks anyway home slice, I'll see you later" she said giving a quick hug to Anko and trying to navigate herself through the crowd of people that slowly began thinning out as the new students made their way to the classrooms.

"_Well if he did skip out on the opening ceremony of the Academy to go on some mission then he'll have to be back right about now for the ANBU assembly_" she deduced in her head; she would have to meet up with him there.

After all the students were finally in the classrooms and the parents had left for work or back home, Misaki had no choice but to abandon her fruitless search of Itachi because clearly he wasn't there, and so she went back to the rest of the ANBU black ops accompanying the hokage back to the main towers for the ANBU meeting. They walked down street with the hokage in front of course and with them following right behind him.

The crowd of people who lined the sides of the streets watched the procession of the people responsible for maintaining their safety and security and cheered. This was the only time of year that members of the public were able to see the ANBU black ops off duty but not their faces of course as that was reserved for the people closest to them. Misaki felt a sense of pride representing the glorified Uchiha clan and walking down the main street to the hokage's towers and waving at the people. She only wished that she could show her face to the people so they could see the only female member of the exclusive team and prove kunoichi were on par with their male counterparts.

When the hokage and all of the ANBU finally arrived at the main towers and the pomp and ceremony left behind them, the formalities could finally begin. The hokage led them all to a large hall where he sat at the forefront of a table with the captain Ichiro Miyake sat next to him along with the various captains of each unit including the terrifying and scarred all-over-the-face Ibiki Morino, head of the ANBU interrogations and torture unit. The rest of the twenty four strong ANBU operatives who were now free to take off their masks sat on cushions on the tatami matted floor.

"Okay everybody, thanks for being here today, well it's not like you had much of a choice anyway" chuckled their captain Ichiro trying his best attempt at humour.

"So then before we begin I just need to take a roll call, if I say your name, if you don't mind just raising your hand or yelling out present" he picked up a book and started calling out the twenty four names…

"Yamamoto, Tomoko" "Present"

"Kato, Hiroto" "Present"

"Okura, Keisuke" "Present"

"Uchiha, Itachi"….. "Uchiha Itachi?"…

Captain Ichiro looked up along with the rest of the ANBU in the hall. Misaki looked around and searched frantically for any sign of Itachi but it seemed like he actually wasn't there. A feeling of uneasiness settled in her stomach. Everyone carried on looking around and whispering around in confusion about where Itachi could be.

"That's odd, he's not here, where could he be?" asked Ichiro in confusion.

"Wait, lord hokage didn't you send him on a short mission today so that it wouldn't clash with this meeting?" she asked remembering what Itachi had said last night to his father.

"I would not send him on a day like this, at least not during this meeting" said the hokage smoking his pipe.

It was very strange. It was just last night that she'd overheard Itachi telling his father that he'd be going on a covert mission but his father still expected him to attend the assembly as well. Strange. A word that seemed to come up every time Itachi was mentioned. She wondered if he'd deliberately lied to his father to skip out on the assembly, but why she didn't know.

"Come to think of it, I didn't see him at the opening of the Academy as well, which is okay and all but why is he not here now?... I guess we'll have to deal with that later or we'll never get finished here" said the captain.

"_Itachi where are you?"_ she asked herself desperately.

"Uchiha, Misaki" "Present" she said trying not to stand out again.

"Uchiha, Shisui"… There was silence once again as no one responded.

Misaki looked around once again with everyone outraged at the thought of another ANBU not at the meeting. Only then did she also realise that Shisui was also not there. It was shocking. From what she remembered no one had ever missed an ANBU meeting in recent history.

"What! He's not here too? What the hell is going on here today?" asked Captain Ichiro clearly perplexed. The thought of two people being absent was unthinkable.

The room was abuzz with people talking and trying to understand what was going on including the heads of the cores at sitting at the table. How could there be two diligent and talented members of the famous Uchiha clan not make it to the most important meeting of their careers?

"Captain, this is highly unusual; Shisui is probably one of the most dedicated and proud members of our team would never bunk without a good reason" said one ANBU member standing up.

"That's true, but where is he? And where's Itachi for that matter as well?" said Ichiro.

Almost instantly all eyes turned around to focus on Misaki as if she was somehow the link in their disappearances.

"Misaki, both Itachi and Shisui are in your Uchiha clan, do you know where they might be?" asked Ibiki Morino from the table.

Misaki felt ganged up on, she couldn't possibly no where they might be, it's not like she was their babysitter.

"No sir, but it could be likely that something came up and they had to take care of it, besides they are good friends and Shisui is Itachi's mentor so they probably went somewhere together" she said trying to defend them but still feeling uneasy.

"Not lately" said the first guy who talked earlier "Itachi and Shisui have drifted apart which might have something to do with the investigation Shisui's been doing on Itachi. It can't be a coincidence that they're both gone at the same time, not the way Itachi's been acting lately" he said which ignited a flurry of murmuring throughout the hall. Misaki could feel her temper rising, she hated people talking about others behind their backs, it just wasn't fair. She noticed captain Ichiro talking quietly to the hokage before he spoke again. It made her both curious and uneasy.

"Okay everyone; we can't jump to unjustified conclusions about the two of them, that's not how we operate. Now I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation of their whereabouts and a valid excuse as to why they didn't notify us about their absence. I'll send someone to go and find out what happened. In the meantime let's carry on or we'll be here all week" said Ichiro.

"Unfortunately this means that Shisui forfeits his candidacy for ANBU captain" said the hokage.

It was such bad and unfortunate news that someone like Shisui who was so deserving of the title had to be scrapped for consideration because of his absence. Misaki wondered how he would take the news…

The rest of the meeting went without any more glitches; they all discussed their people of interest profiles, people to keep an eye on with Orochimaru being the hot topic, any grievances they might have, nominees for future ANBU captaincy with Shisui's name being left out, candidates for new ANBU black ops which was decided and voted on by the members, but the hokage had the last say as to who those members would be. But the absence of Itachi and Shisui was still on everyone's minds, especially Misaki who couldn't keep the last ANBU members' words out of her head "_Which might have something to do with the investigation Shisui's doing on Itachi"…_

"Okay everyone, now we have to allow all the different divisions of the ANBU black ops to present opportunities and recruit those of you who they feel have the unique abilities and potential to work in their cores. We have the leaders of the tracker ninja unit, the assassinations core, the interrogations and torture core and the intelligence core working in conjunction with the Konoha police force here today. They will now take over from here" said the hokage.

The formalities came to an end when the different heads and captains of the ANBU black ops started calling people over who they felt were able to live up to their departments. Misaki stood where she was hoping to be presented with an opportunity for the tracker ninja unit so it would be easier to find the ninja who killed her brother but to her surprise she was given something else.

"Misaki we have a special request for you from outside the ANBU black ops" said one of the admin staff waiting in the wings.

"Really, what is it?" she said absent minded; her mind had momentarily drifted back to the two missing Uchiha's.

A woman with black hair, deep red lips and a white bandage dress came up to her. Misaki recognised her as a jonin and sensei for graduated genin from the Academy.

"Good morning Misaki Uchiha. My name is Kurenai Yuhi and I'm a genjutsu specialist here in the leaf village. I have heard that you are having trouble mastering your sharingan and read in your profile that it is one of your weakest points even if it is your clan's blood trait. Well, I would like to present you with the opportunity to become my apprentice and learn how to master genjutsu. Of course genjutsu is important component of the Uchiha's sharingan so having the visual jutsu and learning to control the genjutsu could make your sharingan the most powerful in the village and also make you a genjutsu specialist just like me"

"Really, you can teach me to do all that and you're not a sharingan expert?" she said extremely impressed by the woman.

"I can't teach you to control your sharingan better because I don't have it, but mastering genjutsu will help exponentially. I've worked with the powerful genjutsu clan of the village, the Kurama clan, for several years now and I would like to pay it forward"

"That's sound amazing! I can't believe it. I've never even heard of this being done before. But wait doesn't this mean I would have to take some time off of my ANBU black ops work?"

"It might force you to take a leave of absence for a while. But keep in mind just how much of a formidable shinobi you would be if you mastered genjutsu and had a powerful sharingan then came back to the black ops… But at the end of the day this is all your decision so you can think about it and get back to me when you have made a decision"

"I will, thank you so much Kurenai Yuhi. I will definitely consider it" she said completely surprised yet amazed at the opportunity. She had never thought of leaving the black ops and only after six months of being in the team, but she had to admit that the work was gruelling and mastering her sharingan was something that appealed to her greatly especially seeing the expert levels of Itachi and of course Shisui. If she could get to the same level as Itachi and Shisui with their sharingan it could take her a step closer to her dream of seeking out the ninja who killed her brother, as she would have the power to defeat him, she wouldn't even need to join the tracker ninja unit…

After everyone was finished presenting opportunities and recruiting the different members of the ANBU black ops and all the heads of the different departments were left sour because two of the greats-Itachi and Shisui were not present for recruitment, the meeting was adjourned and everyone dismissed. But it wasn't over yet as Misaki saw captain Ichiro sending someone to go and investigate the non-appearances of the two Uchiha's as she left the room.

As excited as she was about the opportunity to become a genjutsu specialist from Kurenai Yuhi, she still couldn't keep her mind off her boyfriend and his best friend. It was frustrating to have to always worry about Itachi. Itachi and Shisui had both skipped the most important meeting of their careers and Shisui's name was scrapped as a possible future captain.

When Misaki got home, she still had an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. What were the odds that both Itachi and Shisui were sent on a mission at the same time on assembly day? She sat on the tatami floor by the low-lying table and smacked her forehead onto the table in frustration just as her mother walked in confused by what she just did.

"Misakie why are you banging your head on the table? What's wrong honey?" asked her mother.

"The world…no I'm just a little worried about Itachi is all" she said rubbing her throbbing head annoyed.

"Why, did something happen at the assembly today?"

"That's the think momma; he didn't show up at the assembly today nor did Kagami Uchiha's son, remember Shisui?"

"Really? That doesn't sound like Itachi, he's such a responsible young man and from what I've heard Kagami's son is just as dedicated as he is to his duties to the village and the clan"

"Exactly so why not show up at all or send a letter?" she said more to herself but she also had something else she was unsure of in her mind and it was good a time as any to ask.

"Okasan?"

"Yes honey?" said her mother starting to cook dinner.

"I just wanted to know, well actually I've always wondered if it is okay for me to be dating Itachi, I mean since we're in the same clan and all"

"Of course honey. What do you think would happen to our sharingan and kekkei genkai in four generations time if Uchiha's didn't 'date each other' like you put it? The Uchiha genes would be diluted into extinction" she said grinning at her.

"Makes sense" she mumbled.

"By the way mamma, today at the assembly I was asked by a genjutsu specialist whether I would be interested in becoming her apprentice to perfect my genjutsu and therefore my sharingan"

Her mother turned around to hug her daughter. "Omedetou gozaimasu (congratulations) that sounds amazing, are you going to accept?" she said enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure…"

"You should really consider it honey; opportunities like that don't come around too often"

"That's for sure. Speaking of, Shisui had his consideration for ANBU captaincy taken away because he didn't show up"

"Oh no that's too bad, the clan won't be happy about that at all; though it will teach him a harsh lesson on responsibility"

Misaki tried to think of all the possibilities of where he could have gone to but nothing came up. She wondered if it were possible that Itachi's father would know. Maybe he was the one who sent the two powerful Uchiha boys somewhere... She had no choice but to go and ask her father who worked with Itachi's father at the Konoha police force. She got up from the table and resentfully went to her pain-in-the-ass father who was sitting on the tatami matted floor busying himself with scrolls. She slid open the fusuma doors and walked in quietly and sat on the floor behind him.

"Erm father?" she asked quietly.

"Yes Misaki?" he said not turning to see her.

"I was just wondering if you knew whether chief Uchiha sent Itachi to do something during the ANBU assembly today?"

He took off his reading glasses and stopped writing to look at her from the side. "What do you mean 'during the assembly'? He had to be in attendance at the ANBU meeting so Fugaku wouldn't errand him anywhere" he said impatiently as if she was asking stupid, time-wasting questions.

"That's why I'm asking, because Itachi wasn't at the assembly today as well as Kagami's son Shisui"

He turned around completely to look at her now. "Itachi and Shisui weren't at the meeting? Both of them?" he said shocked. She nodded to him and he shook his head in disbelief and made a disgruntled noise.

"These kids! Don't they understand how much this puts our clan behind? and two of our best at that? I'd better write to Kagami and chief Uchiha" he said more to himself than to her. He walked out of the room to his desk and started scribbling away and realising that her question wouldn't be answered, Misaki left to write a letter of her own.

_"Hey Itachi _

_I missed you at the ANBU assembly today and Shisui for that matter. Please get back to me once you're around. People in this clan are seeing red at your absences today (excuse the pun). Please get back to me once you're around and could you find out where Shisui is/was. _

_Xoxo _

_Mi"_

She walked outside to the quiet evening and wrapped the letter around a kunai and tied it with a string. She then aimed for a short distance away to the residence of the first Uchiha family—Itachi's family. She threw it with perfect precision so that it pinned to the wall next to his bedroom window.

"Perfect every time Misaki. Seems like you had a busy day" came her neighbour old man Uchiha who she didn't see standing in his garden in the dark.

"It was a busy day but tomorrow will be busier"

"You know your generation is always about going and doing. Sometimes you need to slow down and take it all in. You don't know how long you're going to be around so stop…and just appreciate everything around you"

As if it was that easy, there was never time for anything these days and it was always something to do or stress about. Standing in the cold late evening calmed the stress of the day. As worried about the amount of trouble Itachi and Shisui would find themselves she really didn't want the worrying it to spoil her day tomorrow. She'd just remembered that it was her official day off and she planned to spend it with friends as written on the letter Anko had sent her earlier in the week and the worrying of her boyfriend and his best friend could dampen her spirits. She would have to bury it at the back of her mind after telling her trusted white diary.


	8. Day 6: In Remembrance

Day 6: In remembrance 

The day after the ANBU meeting, it was customary for the black ops to be given the day off so that the admin office at the hokages' could sort out its updating of new paperwork and mission schedules and so that the hokage can decide on the next batch of leaders. It was their only official day off for the entire year. For Misaki this meant a whole day relaxing with her friends or more specifically party the late afternoon away with her friends Anko, Izumo and Kotetsu and a few others and, hopefully catching up with Itachi and Shisui to find out why they bunked the assembly yesterday. But for now she hopped out of bed still in her underwear as usual and put on a robe over her shoulders that dragged onto the floor. She looked at the time on her bedside clock sitting on her desk. Any minute now she was suspecting a certain someone to appear on her window and before she knew it, the iron bell rang outside the Uchiha clan walls to signify a visitor. A few seconds later there was a tapping on her window as she picked up her hairbrush.

"It's open Mitarashi" she said not looking in the direction of the window as she knew it was her best friend. Anko jumped from the window sill straight onto her bed and smiled her characteristic sassy smile.

"Your first official day off huh Missy? This is going to be too much fun!"

Misaki jumped onto her best friend to hug her and gave her a peck on the neck like she usually did with Anko; it was a reference to the curse mark that would appear when her old sensei was around and for her to keep strong.

"Okay but first I need to get dressed and brush my silky blaak hair" she said playfully.

"Hey I heard that you were approached by a genjutsu specialist at the assembly yesterday?" said Anko

"Yeah, this woman named Kurenai Yuhi wants me to be trained by her and get better at my genjutsu. But it might mean that I have to leave the black ops for a while"

"It doesn't matter, you can always come back. You know it's always a really good idea to keep improving and getting better doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I think so. Maybe I will try it" she said braiding her long ponytail.

As Misaki brushed and braided her hair, Anko fiddled around with anything she could find in her room to keep herself busy whilst waiting for Misaki and found an interesting letter on her side table.

"Ooooh what's this? A love letter from the red-eyed mystery boy himself?" she teased. Misaki turned to see that Anko was reading one of her many letters from Itachi.

"No Anko give that back, its private" she said embarrassed and trying to retrieve the letter.

"Relax Misaki it's just me, what, do you think I'll read this letter aloud from the rooftops?" asked Anko. Misaki knew that she could trust her friend but the relationship she had with Itachi was so personal and she wanted to keep it that way, but she decided to let Anko have her way for today.

"Okay why not" she said relenting and playfully rolling her eyes at her. Anko opened the letter and began reading it slowly:

"_Misaki: the blossom, the beauty, my heart and soul forever…_

_Thank you for being the only person who doesn't always need a sharingan to see what's going on inside my head and understand what I'm going through. Both our power obsessed fathers are the same but we don't have to be like them. I really didn't know how much I needed someone like you in my life, until you came around all those years ago when we started out as friends from the same clan. I know that I don't deserve you, but at least I can try to be the person you deserve, even if it takes forever"_

_Itachi"_

"Wow he's a lot deeper than I would have thought" said Anko astounded.

"People don't realise just how deep Itachi is. Even though he's always been a little reserved and introverted, he still has this soft, nurturing and sensitive side to him that very few ever get to see. I see it as a privilege to be in the position to see that side of him"

Anko scanned the letter again. "What is he talking about here 'understand what I'm going through?'" asked Anko

Misaki sat on her bed and thought. "His father put's a lot of pressure on him to be the best Uchiha and best shinobi in this village as he sees Itachi as the best chance for our clan to get to the centre of power in this village and Itachi hates it; he's seen how a lust for power has caused wars and corrupted people. His father has always been possessive, dictatorial and controlling but lately I think it might be pushing Itachi over the edge and…oh I don't know Anko I just wish things were like they used to be with Itachi."

"What do you mean?"

"Itachi has changed so much since we started seeing each other. He's a lot more reserved and quiet and distant...which is saying a lot as that is already his natural character. I noticed it around the time my brother was killed and we'd both just made ANBU. And it's not just me who has noticed but everyone in our clan and the ANBU as they talk about the changing of his behaviour. I think he really can't handle the pressure of being his father's puppet and an ANBU with all his stressful missions."

"So then what's he really like?"

Misaki had to smile at that question. "Ah Anko, he is sweet, gentlemanly and soft-spoken. He has these random moments where he would surprise me with his personality. Do you remember a few days after we found my brother's body in the land of tea and later his name engraved on the K.I.A memorial stone, I couldn't even leave my room? I was a despondent frozen nothing… until one day Itachi came into my room from my window and sat next to me on my bed. He took my hand and clenched it tight. And for the rest of the day he just sat with me in silence. We didn't even say one word to each other the whole day, but we sat side by side. All I could feel was his pulse through his hand and his breathing. That day I really learned what it meant to be there for someone. I was so tired of people giving me half-hearted messages of condolences and telling me to be strong, I didn't want to hear anyone anymore yet he was there for me in person. He gave me what other people couldn't. His time."

"Wow that's amazing Misaki I never knew he was like that… so what's the best date you've ever been on with him or rather the most intimate?" she asked with her usual sassy smile.

Misaki remembered the time she and Itachi had snuck out for an after-midnight swim in Nakano River together a while back. It was nothing but them, the still water, the darkness and the intensely bright moonlight. She wore no more than a silk night-gown that was transparent under the moonlight. That, combined with her emerging out of the water with soaking wet hair and shimmering skin under the moonlight made Itachi give her a look she would never forget. That was probably the first time she had ever turned him on… even if nothing came of it…. She could've almost felt the chills erupting onto Itachi's skin. He stared fixated at her and she gave a victory smile that showed that she had gotten her way again...

"I think I'll keep that one to myself. My relationship with Itachi is too personal and important to me so I want to keep it between him and me only" she said slightly blushing.

"Boy you've got it bad, don't you?"

"Look at me, I'm blushing red and feel flustered when I'm only talking about him. Wow, I still can't believe he still has this kind of effect on me. Don't worry Anko you'll find the right guy one day"

"No thanks. For now I want to concentrate on having a blast today so when you're ready, we can have some fun before going to Izumo and Kotetsu later"

"So what exactly are we doing today?" she asked noticing a curious gleam in Anko's eyes of excitement.

"Everything. Anything and everything! This is your only official day off for a long while so we have to do it all. Now. Right now. We have to be spontaneous. Let's go"

"Alright" said an excited Misaki playing her favourite song in her head as it was time for an adventure…

"Let's go." said Anko pulling Misaki by the wrist out of her window and they both ran through the Uchiha clan laughing and relaxing in a way that most Uchiha children hadn't seen. The Surrounding adults stopped to look at them smiling excitedly and seeing the rarity that was a happy Uchiha child.

When Misaki and Anko got to downtown Konoha it was already buzzing with people opening up shop with bakeries, butcheries, launders, cafés, book shops opening their doors and food stalls that lined the streets began writing up their menu specials, ramen noodle shops flapped open their signs and housewife's began their morning shopping. The sweet shops were littered with schoolchildren some looking to get a snack before going to the Academy or the playgrounds. The bells of shrines and temples began their choruses of morning spirituality. Artisans and crafters began their handy delicate cultural artworks moulding, shaping and sculpting skilfully sculpting with their hands. Newspaper and magazine kiosks began selling the latest news to early birds. Clearly Konohan's liked to start their days early.

Like a bullet the two friends hit the ground running tried at it full speed ahead first looking around at the food stalls and trying out exotic foods imported from the great hidden villages, then visited the Konoha history museum, attended a traditional tea ceremony, read up on the latest local news about a woman who had successfully forced a shinobi from another village to marry her in compensation for accidentally killing her breadwinner husband, watched a traditional street puppet show, attended a cooking class, then they visited a hair salon for a much-needed freshening of the hair. Both Misaki and Anko were amused by the horrified expression of the hairdresser who undid Misaki's long braid to find sharp and broken pieces of kunai hiding in her hair. It was a shinobi thing that they wouldn't understand.

Lastly when they reached the edge of the village and a certain stall caught Misaki's eye. It was a tattoo stall specialising in traditional tattooing. She stepped forward already with her decision.

"Are you sure about this Misaki?" asked Anko.

"Of course, nobody will know since I'll hide it with clothing; it'll be on my lower back. Besides I already have an ANBU tattoo on my arm"

"If you say so. So what tattoo will you get?"

"Hmmm" she thought hard about something of significance to her and to her life that she could be proud of. She could be proud of… When she had the idea, she told it to the artist.

"What about you Anko? Don't you want a tattoo?"

Thanks but I already have a permanent marking on my body" she said referring to the curse mark given to her by her old sensei. They both usually shied away from talking about Anko's curse mark and the suffering she had gone through because of her old sensei. Not wanting to ruin their mood with such a dark subject, Anko brushed it off; she was a tough girl.

After spending the day as ordinary Konohagakuri citizens and her finally wearing casual clothing which consisted of jeans, a backwards cap, a varsity jacket and red lips of course. Misaki felt refreshed as she didn't remember the last time she wasn't busy with shinobi work in some way. But even through all the fun she was having, her mind kept wandering back to the same place-Itachi. Where was he? Why did he and Shisui not come to the ANBU assembly? Why wasn't he informing her of what he was up to? The questions were driving her insane but what was worse is that it was her day off and she had distractions, which wasn't fair. She pictured herself smashing the questions inside her head while she and Anko passed a curious looking woman beckoning them towards her.

"Get your palms read, and see what the future holds…" came a voice from the right. Misaki stopped walking to take a closer look at the intriguing strange woman and her even stranger clothing.

"You want to see what lies ahead for you? Career, love, and money wise? Come and get your palms read"

Misaki and Anko looked peculiarly at each other they both had doubts about this woman but Anko took the chance.

"I guess it couldn't hurt, let's go for it" she said stepping up to the woman who looked pleased.

"Are you kidding me Anko, the woman is a fake, fortune tellers are scammers looking for a quick buck!' she said pulling Anko aside.

"We don't have to take her seriously; we can just find out what she says and laugh about it later, it's usually something about having eight kids or becoming a millionaire kingpin or becoming the greatest shinobi that ever was"

Misaki remembered her brother saying something about living today and not worrying about telling the future as it wasn't for anyone to try and guess what might happen but in the spirit of things she went along.

"Are you even legally here in Konohagakure?" asked Misaki curiously.

"C'mon Misaki you're off duty, get rid of the policewoman mentality and give her a break" sighed Anko pulling her into a mysterious curtain where they both sat down opposite the woman.

"I am a traveller who goes everywhere and anywhere to spread tales of the future. It is my gift to share with people. Now who's first?" she asked.

"Erm Anko you can go first" said Misaki and the woman grabbed Anko's hand already.

"Excellent. Now let's see here" she said sliding her fingers across Anko's palm and moving her body in a peculiar way that made Misaki more doubtful about her authenticity.

"Ooooh here we go. It says 'the one you fear most will return on a day of significance years from now and you will confront your past once more'". Misaki shot a look at Anko who tried to hide her shock at the readings and downplayed the impact it had on her.

"Huh! Sounds like Orochimaru sensei will be back in a few years' time on some important day and I will have to go through my past again? He won't come back here; he has no reason, that's if he's still alive. He's too unpredictable"

Misaki gave the woman a strange look; she didn't know whether the woman was accurate but she did hear only two days ago about the criminal working for Orochimaru and some other people he might be involved with. Orochimaru was definitely active again but how this woman knew was beyond her. Things had just gotten a little too real for her.

"Nice try lady, anything else?" asked Anko.

"I only see one other thing. You will soon be promoted in your career" she said reading her.

"A chunin exam proctor hey? Now that's what I like to hear"

"Hey don't take her so seriously, nobody could possibly know whether you'll become an exam proctor or not before it happens" said Misaki as the woman turned her attention to her.

"And what about you my dear? Let me see what happens in your future" she said a little offended by Misaki's scepticism.

"Let's just get this over with" said Misaki giving her hand out to the woman to be read… After waiting for a few minutes Misaki got impatient.

"Well? What does it say?"

The woman just looked at Misaki's hand as if she was looking for something that had fallen off of her hand or was missing.

"I'm sorry my dear… I, I don't see anything. Not in your immediate or distant future in any aspect at all" she said confused and worried.

"What? What do you mean?" said Misaki feeling slightly startled by the woman's worried expression.

"Wait! There might be something here… Do you feel an agonising pain in your back; do you suffer from back pains?" Misaki shook her head.

"It looks like you're going to have back pains… metaphorical back pains… I can't decipher and interpret it properly; I'm not sure if I've seen this before"

One scary moment shot Misaki's memory back to what the criminal held at the interrogations core had said to her "_It is never your enemies who will be the ones to betray you or stab you in the back…"_

Misaki gasped and jerked her hand away from the lady and stared at her before abruptly standing up and making her way away from her. Anko slapped the tip onto the woman's table and jumped up to catch up with her best friend.

"Misaki wait, what's wrong?" she asked concernedly She looked intently at her best friend.

"Nothing, I was just ready to leave that's all"…But all was not quite right. She tried justifying it in her head about fake psychics but that woman came too close. It had definitely spooked her.

"Great we should just move on and head on over to Izumo and Kotetsu"

"Is that what you meant by sending me that letter of party later this week?"

"Of course. This will probably be your last official day off for the rest of the year so we need to enjoy it. At least for a while as Kotetsu has to go on duty later..."

The speed of time couldn't keep up with the two young Kunoichi going around the village. It was a frenzy of everything. They headed straight to the commercial hub of downtown Konoha and went into a trendy bar for youths looking to blow off some steam. She hoped that they wouldn't be staying long because she didn't want to be labelled as as one of the 'kool kids of Konoha' always seen hanging around clubs with popular people. In any sense it was refreshing. She felt human for the first time in ages and not only a worker ant Uchiha. She was honouring her promise to her late brother she had once made to him about finding time to live and not worrying about the future as her friends chanted her on…

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" chanted the crowd behind her as Misaki downed a shot of saké in one go. She slammed the shot glass down on the counter of the bar and the crowd cheered as she threw her hands in the air triumphantly. Her first taste of alcohol burned down her throat while Izumo tried to talk to her over the loud noise of the music.

"I thought shinobi members of the Uchiha clan weren't allowed to drink alcohol?" he said over the noise.

"What? I can't hear you. All I can hear is a wet blanket" she said laughing. "Don't worry nobody from my clan is here, just chill bro."

"Maybe we should call you Mi-sake? _Sake!_ Get it?" said Kotetsu roaring with laughter from behind.

"Alright everyone, we've come to that part of the night where were opening up the stage for anyone brave enough to 'sing for some bling' karaoke competition where the best singers can win great money…" said the host of the bar, standing on a stage.

"Misaki come let's go" said Anko tugging on her hand.

"No, I don't sing, dance only" she said shying away and laughing…

It was so relaxing to finally get some time off of her job and worrying about Itachi and Shisui, not to mention trying to find out about the ninja who killed her brother, trying to make a decision on Kurenai Yuhi's genjutsu training and sour relationship with her dad that she'd promised her mother that she'd fix among other things. After all she wasn't all about her job and Itachi, she needed a life of her own away from all that. It felt liberating breaking the rules of the Uchiha clan -when she wasn't smoking with Itachi which was also a rarity- if only for one night and partaking in one of her favourite hobbies alone-dancing, but this time it was dancing in between Izumo and Kotetsu who placed their hands on her hips.

But eventually there it was again... the same feeling she couldn't shake off; the feeling of worry about Itachi was starting to knock at the back of her mind trying to get her attention…

Anko and Izumo, Kotetsu and her rounded off the amazing day with going up the hill overlooking the entire village and out to fire country to watch the bright orange sunset over the Hokage mountain on the opposite side of the village. Misaki placed her hands on Anko's shoulders and kissed her neck where her curse mark would be. It was the best feeling in the world to be with good friends, and be a normal non-shinobi Konohan even if it was only for a day…

XxX

After spending the afternoon hanging out with her friends she was finally ready to go home still sober and get some rest before reporting for duty tomorrow. But while she was walking home with Anko, she wondered if she should go and see whether Itachi was at home and why he didn't come to the assembly. He was constantly on her mind even when she was having a good time.

"Oh my _Gawd _Misaki today was too much fun! And we somehow still remained sober; we did good my friend we did good. Too bad your baby boy didn't get to come huh?"said Anko clearly still amped from the party.

"Nah Itachi isn't into the whole crowded ass shaking and drinking club scene. He's more of the traditional green tea serving, quiet café kind of person. All I can say is that I just feel sorry for Kotetsu who has to go on duty n—

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Misaki was cut off by someone screaming nearby.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Anko slightly caught by surprise.

"Yeah, It sounded like it was coming from that direction" she said pointing towards the clearing by the bushes surrounding Nakano river.

They both walked from the unusually quiet street lined with buildings towards the clearing. When they got there, they both stopped to look around at what was happening. The entire riverbank was crowded with people who had come from the nearby city centre to stare at something at the river. What was frightening was that there was at least a dozen medical core ninja along with members of the Uchiha clan who worked for the Konoha police force on the scene. They were trying to keep people away from the riverside while the medical core prepared their medical equipment, instruments and jutsu. It was a very alarming sight. Misaki looked over to Anko who was just as nervous as she was seeing everyone around there.

"C'mon we need to go over there and find out what's going on" she said grabbing Anko by the hand and pulling her with to the river.

"I hope a child wasn't drowning or something" said Anko concerned and running along with Misaki.

Misaki could feel the panic starting to settle inside her, not only because of the fact that so many Konoha police and medical personnel were there but also because most people surrounding the river were from her clan as Nakano River wasn't too far away from the Uchiha clan area. She and Anko only slowed down when they got to the crowd of people.

"Everybody stand back please so the medics can work" said one of the police force members Misaki didn't recognise from the Uchiha clan. Most of the police were trying to give the medical ninja some space by moving curious spectators back and barricading them from the riverbank. When she got to the front of the crowd by pushing and shoving, the Konoha police officer who didn't recognise her quick enough, tried to push her back as well.

"Ma'am please stay back so we can give the medical core some space!" he said with rising hostility.

"I'm a member of the ANBU, I have the right to be here" she said having no choice but to break the yet another rule and lifting up her sleeve to show the spiral shaped tattoo on her upper arm. ANBU were only allowed to reveal their unmasked identities to the public during emergency situations only. The Konohan policemen couldn't ignore her authority now that he knew she was a member of the highest level of security in Konoha. Everyone looked at Misaki as she was allowed to go closer.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, you may go through" he said as Misaki gave one final look to Anko waiting in the front of the crowd. Misaki stepped closer to the river where the medical core dressed in their usual white scrubs were pulling something big and heavy out of the water. Everyone's eyes were now locked on them as they pulled this something floating in the water. It looked like… a body…

Misaki and the rest of the crowd gasped in horror at the sight of a body being pulled out of the water face down. The worst was speculated-someone had drowned. Misaki looked at her best friend who looked just as shocked as she was, but it was nothing compared to what was about to come when the medical core took the body out of the water to placed it on the soft grass and flip the body around to reveal the face. Misaki felt her entire body freeze when she saw it…

Shisui Uchiha.

The body of Shisui 'the teleporter' Uchiha lying on the ground with a ghostly pale face and blood flowing out of his closed eye lids.

A million things seemed to happen at the same time and in slow motion; chaos broke out as some people cried out his name and some people in the spectating crowd started screaming. With most of the crowd composed of Uchiha, everyone recognised him; one of the prides and one of the most important young members of the much revered Uchiha clan now lay dead at their feet. The medical core placed him in a body bag and zipped it up and carried the away on a stretcher to the medical core for final analysis. The Konoha police also mainly composed of Uchiha started to zone off the entire area so people could stay away from the scene.

Misaki felt dizzy, her world was spinning. She couldn't focus her eyes and felt her balance start to waver. Her breathing became slower and slower…

"_Misaki, daijobu (are you okay)?"_ she heard a distant voice saying to her. She knew the impact of what she had just seen was causing her dizziness. But she was a ninja, an ANBU; she had to keep her emotions in check to do her job. But she couldn't move. All she could do was have a flash back of her brother's death...

Six months ago…

_Her feet somehow carried her towards the leaf ninja chunin standing in front of the body trying to conceal it from her. The world was moving in slow motion, all she could see was distraught faces but she didn't take in their meaning, she had to see it for herself. When she looked down to manually move her frozen feet, she could already see it: blood making a kind of marsh on the grass. It didn't process in her mind-she refused it to. She carried on walking forward but someone with outstretched arms tried to block her. He was shaking his head at her. _

_"Misaki don't look, please" he begged her in slow motion. She merely just stared at Kotetsu and kept walking like a blank faced zombie. Then she turned her head towards the chunin making a space for her and looked down at the mass lying on the grass… _

Misaki snapped back to reality to find Anko holding her from behind.

"Misaki are you okay? I need to take you home, you don't look so well" she said.

"No, Anko I… I need to go and report it to the hokage and the rest of the ANBU, right now" she said. Anko considered her condition first then said "No way, you almost fainted! I'll go and report it to the Hokage but you need to get home. You're in trauma Misaki" she said concerned.

"I need to learn to cope with this, I can't almost faint after seeing a dead body every time, I'm a shinobi. I need to do this" she said not really seeing Anko as her trauma was inhibiting her senses. Anko slowly let go of her and watched her leave with worry in her light eyes.

Misaki who was still visibly shaken ran as fat as her trembling legs could carry her to the Hokage's office. When she got there, she found out from another chunin, Genma and Kotetsu -now on duty after the party- that he was in a meeting with the elders and was not to be interrupted.

"Please you gotta let me in there guys; I have something important to tell Lord Hokage. It can't wait" she pleaded to the two chunin guarding the door.

"Well it's gonna to have to Misaki; we were given strict instructions not to let anyone in. Sorry buddy" Kotetsu said apologetically.

"Are you okay though? You look kind of sickly or something" said Genma looking closely at her sweaty face and shifty eyes.

Misaki who was in such a state of shock combined with desperation to speak with the Hokage launched herself towards the door, knocking Genma and Kotetsu inside the room with her. They all fell on the wooden floor of his office.

"Misaki what the hell do you think you're doing?" said Kotetsu trying to get up from off the floor with Genma following suit.

"Kotetsu, Genma, what is the meaning of this? Didn't I say there were to be no interruptions?" demanded the Hokage looking up from the group of elders.

Misaki didn't get up as of yet, she wanted to figure out how to break the news to the Hokage now that she was there.

"Sorry sir, it won't happen again. C'mon Misaki let's go" said Kotetsu as both he and Genma tried to carry out a resisting Misaki.

"No please I have to tell you Lord Hokage. It's Shisui. He's dead" she said shakily.

The entire room froze; The Hokage finally stood up a few seconds later.

"What do you mean he's dead, explain yourself' he said forgetting the meeting and the elders looking up at him.

Misaki unstably kneeled on the floor and bowed her head. Kotetsu was still holding onto her but he wasn't restraining her now, he was trying to prevent her from falling down.

"Shisui Uchiha, his body was just found in Nakano River. The medical core took his body to be examined for an autopsy and the police force has closed off the entire riverside… I think that's why he didn't come to the ANBU meeting _yesterday…_" she said with her voice breaking.

"How long ago did this happen?" the Hokage asked feeling the shock as much as everyone else in the room.

"Right now sir. He's gone, Shisui's dead. I saw his body!, I just saw it now!" she said hysterically, she couldn't hold back the tears bursting from her eyes now, even if it was a rule for ninja to never show their emotions…

"Don't worry Misaki, I've got you" whispered Kotetsu in her ear holding her tighter for support. All of the elders and Genma looked at the Hokage who walked out from behind his desk towards Genma.

"I need you to call an emergency meeting with all the ANBU in my office right now, as well as the Chief of Police and the Medical core Chief when they're ready to divulge any information. Go" he said to Genma who ran to get his instructions done.

"Kotetsu take her outside my office to calm down" the hokage said softly to him.

Kotetsu helped a crying Misaki out of the Hokage's room to the corridor. There he turned her around and embraced her, rocking her side to side while she cried softly onto his shoulder. The same way he had when she came back to the village knowing her brother had been killed. She knew the shock of losing Shisui stemmed from her trauma she experienced with seeing her brother's dead body. She couldn't help but feel responsible somehow. Her last words to him…

After she finished crying, she rested her head on his shoulder just as masked men descended upon the corridor and were hurriedly converging, making their way into the Hokage's office. "Kotetsu, I've gotta go back inside" she whispered to him.

"Okay, I'll be waiting outside" he said giving her a hug as she nodded at him and walked into the Hokage's office with the other ANBU.

"What's going on sir?" said Ichiro Miyake, the ANBU captain sounding alarmed; after all it was their day off.

The Hokage paced around behind the elders at his desk before answering. "Shisui Uchiha is dead"

There was a chorus of gasps and outraged and surprised exclaims all around the room as everyone was left reeling by the news.

"What? What happened?" asked someone as the room continued the commotion with shocked chattering.

"Misaki has said that his body has been recovered from Nakano River by the police force and has been taken to the medical core" said the Hokage; everyone looked at Misaki standing near the front.

"How did they find his body in the river?" asked one of the other ANBU members.

"I don't know; I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Anko and I heard screaming by the river and went to investigate, and the medical core was pulling out his body from the water" she breathed.

"This is impossible, someone as unbeatable as Shisui can't just die. He is too vigilant and powerful. There's no one even in the Uchiha clan who comes close to his talents" said the captain removing the mask off his face.

"Except Itachi, who I haven't seen in a while" said someone else accusingly.

"Don't worry about Itachi, I've sent members of the Konoha police force to find out why he didn't make it to the meeting. Apparently he had other engagements he needed to attend to at the last-minute, according to what he told his father" said captain Ichiro.

"And Shisui? Are you saying that he didn't come because he also had something to do and somehow died in the process?" asked another operative sounding too arrogant for Misaki's liking.

"No way, Shisui would never miss an assembly, especially since he knew that he was being considered for the next captaincy" said Ichiro.

"Everyone please, we don't know much but we can't assume anything either. For now, we need to wait for the medical core's report on their findings of his body and we'll go from there. Just be vigilant for any suspicious behaviour in the village in the meantime" said the Hokage.

"You don't think that some enemy ninja snuck into the village and killed him do you, and then dumped his body in the river?" asked Misaki thinking about the imposter she had been watching a week back.

"I can't say, that's why we have to be cautious while the core analyses his body. Misaki will you go to the medical core and wait for them to be done, and then send that autopsy report to me; then find out any evidence the Konoha police force have at present. I'll go and visit his family tomorrow. As for the rest of you, don't interfere with the Konoha police force until we know what that report says. I apologise for bringing you all here on your day off. Dismissed"

The rest of the ANBU walked out completely blindsided and that's when Misaki heard one of the operatives whisper to a person next to them "The only suspicious behaviour in this village is precious and perfect Itachi..."

There it was again. Rumours and gossip that she hated more than she could explain and made her hot Uchiha blood boil and lick at her insides. But this time she couldn't hold it back anymore and snapped. Misaki found herself grabbing the ANBU operative by his shirt and banging him against the wall. Everyone in the room turned to look at the commotion.

"Be careful Hiroto, green doesn't look good in your naturally dark eyes" she said while her eyes were changing to a dangerous red…

"You think I could be jealous of someone who needs his loyal pet to defend him when he refuses to say anything" said the operative Hiroto who had his hands against the wall that Misaki pinned him to.

"I'm not his bitch" she spat.

"Hey I'm not the one you have to try to convince of that…" he said arrogantly. His statement made her even angrier but luckily for Hiroto their captain came to sort them out.

"Hey, whatever the hell this is break it up and now!" said captain Ichiro sternly trying to keep them apart but Misaki wouldn't budge. Hiroto's arrogant opinion about Itachi was maddening her more than his sexist insult. She tried to come at him again but the captain was having none of it. He grabbed Misaki by her arms and escorted her out.

"That's it! Hiroto come outside with me as well, I want to talk to the both of you" he yelled as everyone filed out of the hokage's office. When the three of them were out, captain Ichiro let lose his cannon.

"What the hell do the two of you think you're doing? Fighting each other while we are facing a crisis situation? And in front of the hokage and elders of the village no less! It's disgraceful! and Misaki you need to learn some self-control! Just calm down" he yelled.

"Sorry captain, it won't happen again" she said turning away from Hiroto who also apologised.

"Oh I know it won't. Now I don't want to have to say this again. Dismissed"

Misaki immediately turned away from the two of them and walked away. A short distance away she found Kotetsu still waiting for her just like he had said he would. She walked up to him and breathed a sigh of frustration.

"C'mon Misaki, let me take you home" he said looking down at her.

"No, I need to go down to the medical core and wait for their findings on Shisui's body, then I need to find out what evidence the Konoha police force have got so far"

"But you're still in shock; didn't you see how you broke down in there? Besides it's the ANBU's day off."

"I'm a shinobi Kotetsu, that shouldn't have happened in the first place, so now I have to get back to work and find out what I need to."

"Okay, but I still think you should go home first… I think that you're still traumatised by the death of your brother, that's why you broke down the way you did just now. You haven't even been for counselling yet"

Misaki looked at him with her eyes changing back to their honey colour.

"I know. There's nothing I can do about it now, but thank you anyway Kotetsu for being here for me even if it isn't in the ninja rule book" she said through tear-stained eyes. She gratefully hugged a comforting Kotetsu and left him in the hallway while she walked to the medical core building near the Nara clan.

She couldn't believe that Shisui was dead and just out of the blue like that, it was too unbelievable. Her gut feeling told her that it probably contributed to his absence at the ANBU assembly the previous day. But she couldn't help but be very suspicious at his death. How was it that he died at such a popular and usually congested public place like Nakano River near the Uchiha clan? Such a highly respected and probably the most talented of the Uchiha clan just dying so easily. It didn't make any sense…

"_Itachi will be so devastated when he finds out about his friend. I need to be there for him just like he was there for me when Masahiro died" _She said in her head. She then realised that she still didn't know where he was during the ANBU assembly and she couldn't even ask him because she didn't know if he was back from his 'engagements' yet. It was so frustrating.

When she arrived at the medical core building, she saw the place was already crammed with members of the Konoha Military police force mainly consisting of Uchiha clan members and, her heart started aching when she saw Shisui Uchiha's parents sitting on one of the waiting room chairs. His mother looked inconsolable while his father, looking sombre, tried to comfort her. She knew that image of parents losing a child all too well as her parents had lost their son too. She was so busy walking and staring at the police force now filing out of the building in the opposite direction that she almost bumped into someone very important.

"Watch where you're going young lady!" he said quite sternly.

She stopped abruptly and turned her head back to see in front of her. It was Fugaku Uchiha. Itachi's father and Chief of the Uchiha clan which automatically made him chief of Police. He was a very intimidating man with such a commanding presence and a biting personality to match. He was an authoritative man indeed.

"Oh, I apologise Chief Uchiha" she said genuflecting before him and feeling the intimidation beating down on her that he was all too known for.

"Are you here on ANBU duty to collect the medical report on Shisui?"

"Yes sir" she said keeping her bowed head low.

"Well it's not ready yet, I've just spoken to the medical core chief Yakushi-san and they're not finished yet. Once it's released, the police force will be launching an investigation into his death in conjunction with the ANBU black ops".

"An investigation?" she asked.

"We've found evidence that points to suicide, but it's too suspicious so I've decided to go ahead with an investigation into the matter"

The shock of hearing that it was possible for Shisui to have killed himself left her reeling. It was all too unreal. It was no wonder that Chief Uchiha wanted to find out about this whole mess. Shisui and suicide? Impossible...

"Understood sir" she said about to turn to leave him to get back to work.

"By the way Misaki" said Chief Uchiha stopping her in her tracks "Sources tell me that you were seen at a tavern a few hours ago drinking alcohol and gyrating around with older men. Is this true? Are you trying to embarrass my son?" he demanded.

Her heart skipped a beat; she was totally busted and she had no way of getting out of it. She had broken the Uchiha clan rules of Uchiha shinobi not drinking alcohol; truthfully she didn't even know whether she was of legal age yet...

"Yes chief it's true, but the 'older men' are not but my friends and it was my day off today" she said looking down.

"It was your day off? What a pathetic excuse. Do you think you can take a break from being an Uchiha? Everything that you do reflects on the clan, including partaking in disreputable behaviour, I shouldn't have to remind you of this! If it was your day off you should have been training, honing the skills that this clan has pushed you to excel in just like Itachi and your late brother. Now you've already made us proud by being the only female ANBU member of the leaf village, it's an outstanding achievement for our clan and says a lot about you, now show us that you're just as proud to wear the crest on your back!" he said harshly. His words stung her to the core as he sounded just like her father.

"I apologise chief Uchiha. It won't happen again. I remain loyal and faithful to your son" she said with her confidence taking a knock.

"You may go now" he said but it was her turn to stop him before he left.

"Chief Uchiha?"

"Yes what is it now?"

"Erm...I was just wondering if Itachi was at home yet"

"Yes he is but you can't go and see him now, he's busy" he said turning walking away from her.

Misaki let out a tired sigh. Her day off had been a disaster with finding Shisui's body, being scolded by the Chief of the Uchiha clan and now finally being denied to see Itachi by said chief. But the day was not over yet as she still had to wait in the medical core building for the report on Shisui's body.

**Sorry that this chapter is so long, I didn't want to separate the day. Hope you liked it because it might be nearing the end...**


	9. Day 7: Precious Time

Day 7: Precious time

Misaki woke up with a start realising that she had fallen asleep over night at the deserted medical core waiting room still waiting for the report. She ran her fingers through her messy hair and sat up to look out the window at the bleak and cloudy day outside.

Her neck felt stiff from the uncomfortable position she had slept in on the cold chair but she quickly clicked it to relieve the tension in her muscle just in time to see a young boy with a spikey pineapple looking ponytail and a bored looking face walking up to her. She recognised him from the opening of the Academy.

"Hey are you the person waiting for some medical report?" he asked sounding bored.

"Yes, I am"

"Here, my dad told me to give this to you. It's a list of medical terms for the Hokage to use when he gets the report"

"Are you from the Nara clan?" she asked taking two scrolls of paper from him.

"Yes. There's also a letter of apology from the leaf medical core chief Yakushi-san explaining why he can't make it to speak to the Hokage personally, something about his adopted son…"

"His adopted son Kabuto?" she said remembering previous person of interest profiles compiled by the ANBU earlier on. The boy merely shrugged.

"Oh yeah the examiner of… whoever you need examined is done and waiting for you in room 204"

"Thank you erm…"

"Shikamaru and you're welcome"

"So, who exactly was this dead guy found in Nakano River that everyone's talking about anyway?" he asked.

"Everyone's talking about it?"

"Of course, the whole village is talking about it, the news of his death has been spreading like a wild fire so I just figured that he was someone important or something" said the Nara boy.

Misaki kicked herself; she should've known that the entire village would soon be buzzing with talk about the death of yet another young Uchiha. All of the curious and gossiping people could end up making the investigation even more difficult to conduct accurately.

"He was an amazing ANBU member and a highly praised Uchiha. That's all" she said to the boy.

"Whatever. Ah man, delivering things so early in the morning is such a _drag_" he said yawning widely and walking away.

"_What an attitude that kid has_" she said in her head as she walked to the room and knocked on the door.

"Come in" said someone from behind the door.

Misaki walked into the medical lab of the medical core and saw a smiling woman washing her hands and coming up to greet her.

"Hello, watashi wa Konomi Nara desu (I am Konomi Nara)" she said beaming an over friendly smile for someone who had just helped perform an autopsy.

"Uchiha Misaki desu, nice to meet you" she said trying her best to return the smile and be polite.

"Ooh another Uchiha, impressive. Anyway here's the finalised autopsy report for the Hokage" she said giving Misaki the unsurprisingly thick sheets of paper.

"Thank you. So what exactly were your findings?"

The women looked serious now as she went over the report and gestured for Misaki to step closer to Shisui's body where all but his head were covered in a white sheet on the examining table.

"Truth be told, it's not looking good. I was told yesterday by Chief Fugaku Uchiha that this young man committed suicide in Nakano River. But we found severe injuries to his eyes that say otherwise. It's quite suspicious" said Konomi.

Misaki was astounded; if his injuries were so severe then how could it have been suicide, she couldn't understand it.

"My team and I have also noted in the report that judging by the victim's body temperature and the temperature of the river, he must have died sometime in the morning two days ago"

"The day of the ANBU assembly… And what of the injuries to his body?" she asked.

"There wasn't a single scratch on him. All of his injuries were to his eyes and obviously water in his lungs from the river"

"I'm not sure if that sounds like foul play was involved. So far it's in the clear"

"Unfortunately it gets worse. Brace yourself for this because it's quite gruesome"

"Don't worry I can handle gruesome" Misaki said truthfully remembering the sight of her brother's body.

"His eyes appear to be crushed in their sockets. The entire eyeball is completely damaged and covered in blood"

"Now that is the evidence that supports the suicide. If Shisui wanted to kill himself he would know to destroy his powerful eyes or they could fall into enemy hands. No one would have killed him left his valuable eyes behind"

"It doesn't end there though; we found a strange chakra around his eyes that doesn't seem to be disappearing after death. There might have been a very powerful genjutsu that was used on this young man's eyes"

"Are you telling me that someone could have stolen his eyes and placed a genjutsu around them to appear as if there merely crushed in their sockets? This is bad I have to go and report this right away!" she said knowing that Shisui had been the only person in their entire clan to possess a very powerful visual jutsu in recent times and if it fell into the wrong hands it could prove to be disastrous.

"Wait Miss Uchiha, please don't jump to conclusions. It's just as likely that he gave them to someone before he killed himself; it's not unheard of"

"But you don't think he did this to himself, do you. You don't think he killed himself" she asked her boldly, the woman was taken by surprise but then let out a sigh.

"Between you and me, I don't think this was a suicide, not at first at least. If this young man did kill himself, it wasn't until after he or someone destroyed his eyes badly. Even the drowning was very curious; from what I've been told this young man was an exceptional shinobi from your clan so it may be that the genjutsu was used to drown him. But then again it could've been assisted suicide, there are too many possibilities we can't rule out yet."

"That's illegal in the leaf village if it is not done by or under the supervision of the head of the assassinations core of the ANBU black ops. Not to mention that you need a valid explanation and permission from the Hokage first who only gives out the order under the most exceptional circumstances anyway such as chronic pain or terminal illnesses that have no cure. If someone had helped Shisui kill himself then it's classified as murder" she said textbook perfect.

"Is it possible to assume that he wanted someone to kill him without permission? Some people do it undercover to avoid any drama"

No, not Shisui, he was not the kind of person to kill himself; I saw him just the other day, he was so confident, with his usual high esteem, such a proud Uchiha who would die for the upkeep of the clan and for the sake of this village. He knew how much of an asset he was to the ANBU so he wouldn't just do _this…_" She touched his lifeless face and traced her fingers over the lips she had once kissed unbeknownst to her boyfriend. _"Oh Shisui…I'm so sorry"_

"I've also included in the report the time and place where his body will be destroyed so that his abilities don't fall into the wrong hands" she said respectfully seeing Misaki mournful.

"Thank you again for the report, I'll send it to the Hokage immediately" she said.

They both exchanged their goodbyes and Misaki set off to the Hokage's office in his main tower. His death had been more tragic than she had thought, but the assisted suicide bit was too far-fetched. When she got to the Hokage's office he wasn't there yet so she dropped it off with his assistant and left his office just as Anko ran up to her.

"Misaki!" she said almost out of breath and holding on to her best friends arms.

"So where's the fire Ankie?" asked Misaki stopping outside the hokage's office and seeing the state Anko was in.

"Did you hear? Itachi almost got arrested yesterday!"

Misaki's world seemed to stop; she looked at her best friend wide eyed with her heart beating too fast; all the bad news she had been dealing with lately was always somehow related to her boyfriend.

"What, why?" she said no louder than a whisper.

"Something to do with a confrontation with senior Uchiha members of the Konoha police force who are working with you ANBU black ops about Shisui's death. Apparently he assaulted them outside his house when they confronted him and he said some derogatory statements about the Uchiha clan"

"Itachi can't be arrested by the Konoha police force; they need a warrant from the Hokage to arrest ANBU black ops" she said defensively.

"That's what Itachi's father explained when he got there. He apparently took full responsibility for the whole incident and blamed it on the stress that Itachi's been under because of all of the missions he's been given lately"

Misaki covered her face with her hands in stress she was going through herself. It was beginning to be all too much for her.

"What were the Konoha police doing there in the first place?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with the investigation into Shisui's murder"

"I can't believe this is happening. What the hell is going on around here? And knowing this village's penchant for the latest gossip, this incident will spread like wildfire"

"Don't worry, no one else knows about it; I overheard it from one of the Uchiha police as I was coming to your house to check on you yesterday but you weren't home. By the way, you didn't hear this from me" said Anko.

Misaki had to breathe slower and deeper to prevent herself from going into full panic mode. What was going on with Itachi? His strange behaviour was starting to impact negatively on him.

"That's it. I have to go and see him; right now, I can't wait any longer" she said running her fingers through her hair in frustration and walking away.

"Wait, Misaki please, I don't have a lot of time because I have to go on a mission. But I erm, maybe… maybe you should stay away from Itachi, at least for a while until this investigation is over"

"Are you kidding me Anko, do you even hear what you're asking me?" she said outraged; staying away from him during his troubled times was unthinkable to her.

"Just hear me out. Itachi seems to be building a reputation as a trouble maker these days and it could impact on you as well. Please I just don't want you to have your dreams taken away and I don't want to lose my bestie to some boy either" she said sincerely.

"Thanks for the concern but you don't have to worry about me. I just need to talk to Itachi and get to the core of what his problem is then we'll all be fine okay, trust me"

"Misaki, Itachi doesn't deserve you. You're a strong, independent and talented kunoichi with skills better than most shinobi in this village that Itachi will never recognise with all his arrogance."

"Where the hell is this coming from Anko, why are you being like this? Itachi needs my undivided support now that everyone is so against him because of his apparent 'strange behaviour', since when have we abandoned people we love when they're going through troubled times?" she said angry now; why was everyone including her best friend trying to keep her away from Itachi?

"He's up to something Misaki; Shisui, the other Uchiha's, the police force and the black ops have all been watching him for some time now and his strange behaviour could mean something bad for you"

"I'm a big girl, I can handle myself" said Misaki but she couldn't keep the memory of Itachi sneaking around in the dark with an unknown character, but she still didn't want to tell anyone.

"I know you can more than handle yourself, but remember this is Itachi"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean that he's skills are unparalleled in this village but he doesn't have the same pride for your clan that drives you and Shisui once". When she kept quiet he said to her "You're obsessed with him aren't you, that's why you try so hard to be like him"

"No I'm not, you wouldn't understand the relationship we have, he keeps me working harder when I see how advanced he is, I'm so proud of him; and I love him, and who cares if he's not a proud Uchiha."

Anko looked like she was about to give up so Misaki had to reassure her. "Anko you're my bestie, I appreciate your concern but I'll be fine" she said rubbing Anko's arm tenderly "Good luck on your mission, I'll see you when you get back" she said hugging Anko. She left Anko who was not feeling entirely convinced…

XxX

Misaki arrived at the magnificent compound belonging to the chief of the Uchiha clan. The compound that had for generations lived the noble chiefs and leaders of the Uchiha clan and their families, preserving their way of life and continuing the upliftment and prosperity of the clan.

As she walked down the long pathway leading to their home, she noticed that the gravel was quite loose as the heel of her shoes stabbed the ground. This must've been the place where Itachi assaulted the men. When she dug out her heel from the ground, something caught her eye. A crack running through the Uchiha crest on the wall. Misaki stared at it for a while, unable to understand how the crack got there on the wall of the main and proudest house of the proudest clan in history. It just added to the list of strange occurrences happening lately. She got to the front entrance of the house and knocked as she was not allowed inside the main house unless invited. The door opened to reveal not her boyfriend but his eight year old dark-haired little brother with a curious look on his face.

"Hello Sasuke is your brother home?" she asked sweetly as the little boy charmed the living breath out of her with his big innocent dark eyes, adorable face, furrowed brow, and his blue-black hair hanging in his face.

"Yes, but he's busy today so you'll have to come back some other time"

"Oh I—

"Never mind that Misaki; he just doesn't want his big brother leaving. I'll go and get him" said Itachi's kind mother Mikoto coming behind her youngest son. She always had an aura of peace and a nurturing maternal side that warmed Misaki up.

"Sure thanks. So Sasuke are you enjoying your first few days at the Academy?"

"I'm actually top of my class already" he said quite boastfully. The Uchiha blood was already starting to manifest into his abilities.

"That's great; I'm proud of you as an Uchiha myself…By the way, do you know what happened to your wall outside with our crest? I mean who or what made that crack?"

The little boy suddenly looked quite uncomfortable now, he hesitated before speaking softly.

"It was Itachi, he threw a kunai at the crest" he said.

"Why?" she said only imagining the amount of trouble he would get into defacing the sacred crest at his father's house no less.

"I don't know!" he said sounding defensive like he would be in trouble if he didn't know the answer. Misaki figured that it was best to leave Sasuke alone.

"Okay Sasuke, that'll do" said his mother coming from behind a wall again clutching an umbrella under her arm. She took her son's hand. "Excuse us, I have to go and get a few things for Sasuke schooling. Itachi will be down in a minute" she said smiling at Misaki. Misaki bowed to her courteously and leaned against a beam of the house.

...Eventually she heard soft footsteps walking along the wooden patio surrounding the house just as a light shower came down gracefully onto the roof.

"Why do I only ever get to see you after a few days?" came a voice behind her.

"I should be asking you the same thing" she said opening her eyes and turning around. Misaki was stunned by the person she was gazing at. He seemed to blind her with the light he was emitting. Itachi was a knock out vision in white. He resembled an angel with his long white robe and wide sleeves that dragged onto the wooden floor which revealed his bare feet. But the most surprising thing about him was his long beautiful jet black hair hanging down his shoulders. She had never seen is hair let down before. Clearly he was in his element at home.

"_Wow Itachi_" she breathed taken by his charm as he walked towards her.

"What's the matter?" he asked smirking at the stunned expression on her face.

"Nothing. It's just that… _you're so beautiful_" she whispered touching his robe.

Itachi just smirked at her again. "That's usually what a man would say to a woman" he said.

"Well you are. I've never seen your hair loose before; nor have I ever seen you in a kimono. You look like a samurai warrior or something and you're _so sexy_ in white" she said unable to help herself. The vision of Itachi in his robes was stirring something up inside her.

Itachi slowly ran his fingers down the side of her face the same way Shisui had a few days earlier. It started her rapid heartbeat again.

"I feel so under dressed now" she said looking at her tank top and cut off jean shorts she was still wearing from yesterday as she hadn't the chance to go home.

"That's okay; you can wear one of my other kimonos. You're so lucky that we're alone at this house" he said giving her a strange look, she didn't really know how to interpret but it made her blush and she went along with it.

"What's the occasion?" she asked.

"Should there be an occasion for me to see a beautiful woman?" asked Itachi taking her hand.

She smiled at him and he led her to the main entrance of the house where she took of her shoes and followed him to his bedroom. It was quite nerve wrecking for her to go to his room when they were alone at the house…

"Here, you can put this on, I'll be waiting right here" he said giving her the white robe.

She took it from him and went to the bathroom to change. It didn't go unnoticed to her that she was taking her clothes off in Itachi Uchiha's bathroom; he wasn't even in there with her but it felt so sensuous to her somehow, especially since she only had her underwear on after taking off all her clothes and tightening the obi or rope around her waist in his kimono. She turned to the mirror to see how she looked and saw a picture of the both of them stuck onto his bathroom mirror. They were embracing each other with Itachi behind her wrapping his hands around her shoulders and both smiling at the camera under a sakura tree taken the previous year. She stared at the picture Itachi loved so much and thought how far they had both come since then. She then touched the silky white robe and smelt it; trying to take in his every scent. Then she walked out of the bathroom back to Itachi.

"Now it's my turn to say that you're so beautiful. The blossom, the beauty my heart and soul forever" he said shaking his head at her in amasement at her traditional look; she looked at him feeling dazzled.

"Just one more thing…there" he said taking her ponytail out of her hair and running his hands through it to loosen her hair now clean of dangerous sharp objects. Now they both looked the same with white Kimono's, long dark hair and feeling a touch of romance provided by the rain.

"It's a perfect day to stay inside…"

He led her to the other side of the house where there was an outside sunken bathtub filled with hot water. It overlooked outside terrace and the Japanese garden. He took of his robe and got inside the water.

"Well aren't you going to come in?" he asked.

"Itachi I'm naked under this kimono, except for my underwear" she blushed very much aware of her nubile status.

"I don't understand, is that a problem?" he asked trying to be innocent. She playfully raised an eyebrow at his coy question.

"Did you know that I was coming to see you today?"

"Something told me that you would want to see me"

"So you do know everything. I knew it" she joked and he gave a light laugh.

She got inside the hot water fully robed as she wasn't wearing anything underneath and soaked up the relaxing water. She and Itachi were sitting on opposite ends but she was hesitant to sit next to him; she was afraid of being tempted by her hormones. She brought her knees up and hugged her legs together.

"This feels so good, I haven't done this in forever" she said

"There's no time to do this anymore. I'm doing this because my father isn't here jumping down my neck". Misaki looked at him; he sounded beyond stressed and bothered. She needed to be there for him just as he had been for her around the time of her brother's death. They both needed each other and the only way to make that happen was to close the giant secretive and distant gap that Itachi created between them.

Misaki neglected the thought of being tempted and slowly got up, dripping wet with her robe clinging onto her body and walked to Itachi. She realised that being wet and wearing something white and thin meant that he could see through her garment. But she didn't care; she had just seen Itachi blush and for the first time and it made her feel confident. For her this was also test for him; she wanted to see how close he would allow her to get to him as he always had this barrier between them. She got to his legs where his knees were up. She turned her body to face his then slowly lowered her head onto his knees and stared at his curious face. They sat in silence for a while, listening to the rain showering the garden before Itachi spoke to her.

"Misa?" he said barely audible with the rain.

"Yes?"

"Tell me something about yourself?" he asked

"About myself?" she asked lifting her head up a little taken by the random question.

"Yes. Tell me something about yourself that only would know?" he whispered warming up to her and taking her fingers in his.

She thought about it for a while and played with his fingers before answering.

"I wish my brother was still alive. He was a much more valuable and useful shinobi than I'll ever be and I feel guilty that he's dead and I'm still here... living without him has been...impossible...and it's only been six months; I still have to live with this for the rest of my life" she whispered.

Itachi looked away from her when she said that but there was something else he wanted to know about her.

"Now tell me, what are your dreams, like where do you see yourself in a few years?"

"Well for now I want to find the shinobi who killed my big brother who was the glue that tied my family together and end the person, then I want to develop a stronger learership for kunoichi in this village and in ten years I see myself near marriage and swollen with child" she smiled at him suggestively.

"Really, you want to be married?" he asked curiously

"Well yeah, I know that it'd be better if I stay single and continue being a ninja but the Uchiha clan numbers are dwindling and it doesn't help that we've lost talented shinobi like my brother, Shisui and others. So I'd like to repopulate the clan; maybe not with ten kids but enough for us to maintain our standing in this village. Can you imagine cradling a baby Uchiha in your arms?" she said delicately.

"Sounds to me like family, female empowerment and...revenge" he said thinking about his last word for a long while.

He looked away pensively before she said to him "So then what are your dreams for the future?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter" he snapped a little too harshly.

He realised that he'd been too hard and turned away distantly, taking his hands away from her. They both sat in somewhat awkward silence for a long while listening to the rain. But inside Misaki a fire was raging. His sudden reaction set her off. She couldn't be afraid to confront him anymore. It was completely frustrating to have him treat her like that. She couldn't take his distance anymore, and she needed to find out why he was like this. Misaki finally had the courage to talk to him first and break the silence.

"Itachi?" she asked finally.

"Hmmm?" he murmured distantly

"I just really wanna know; are you okay? I mean I–we've all been worried about you" she said softly.

"I don't know what you mean"

She needed an easier way to confront Itachi without leading to conflict. She got up again- with Itachi trying not to make it too obvious that he was staring at her chest- and sat on his lap. That way he wouldn't be able to look away from him and it made her feel sexy and in control. She took his hands in hers and held them tightly. Itachi tried to look away from her feeling the heat from her sitting on his lap but she gently turned his head back to her.

"Listen, Itachi baby what's wrong? Please talk to me, your silence is deafening on my ears. I don't want to see you regressing into your old reserved self who was shut off from the world. I can't stand to see you like this. Clearly all the incidences that others are talking about mean that something's going on with you." She said and brushed his curtain of hair aside to lean in closer to whisper in his ear with his fine hair gently sweeping her face.

"I can see the hurt and strain in your eyes. Whatever burdens you might have I want to know what they are because I want to help carry them" she whispered in his ear. She softly traced the dark distinct lines on his face from his eyes to his cheeks with her fingers.

"I don't know Misa; everything is so different from how it used to be. Decisions are becoming more difficult to carry out and this clan-

"What problem do you have with this clan? I always get confused when I hear you badmouthing the Uchiha's especially since it's your responsibility to uphold our values being the eldest son of the first family. Even after all the encouraging Shisui did for you to uphold the Uchiha name proud-

"Yes well Shisui's dead now okay!" he said. She could see the emotion on his face.

She looked down and uttered "gomenasai ( I'm sorry)…have you ever considered leaving the ANBU black ops if there's too much pressure and try your talents in another area?" she asked him.

"Maybe I will" he said after a long pause.

"Good, I think that it'd be healthy for you to spread your wings, especially since it seems as though everyone's turned their backs on you because of jealousy. Even I might be leaving the black ops for a while"

"Why?"

"I've been asked to learn genjutsu from a specialist here in the village. But like I was saying, you're too talented to be doing one thing and your dad is always trying to control you. Also I hear the rumours people in the village say about you, you're kind of a hot topic, and it makes me sick. You don't deserve that"

"People will always have their own preconceptions about other people, and, even if they don't believe in me, it has no bearings on how I see myself".

She looked up at him right in the face "I believe in you Itachi and I will always be loyal to you. I trust your judgement and your ability to be a good person"

"I just wish you wouldn't though"

She looked at him in surprise; why would Itachi want her to think that he's not a good guy. He was doubting himself. She moved her head closer to him as he was looking away from her again.

"Why not?" she asked turning his head back to look straight ahead at her.

Itachi exhaled sharply "Listen Misa, if I've ever made you feel like you're closed off from me, just know that I'm trying to protect you"

"Protect me from what?"

"When we started seeing each other, I promised your late brother that I would take care of you and protect you and I will do so...even If it means protecting you from me"

"Itachi, I don't need to be protected from you. I trust you completely"

He gave a huge sigh while stroking her hair, his face inches from hers.

"Wow. I just can't believe the woman sitting in front of me. I have to say, you're not the same girl I would stare at from the corner of my eyes when we were genin. Now you're a strong, confident and beautiful woman with so much to give. Honestly you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I never thought that I could open up to someone the way I have with you and it's because of that that I feel lonely when I'm not with you. But you have this ability to bring out the best in me; I truly believe that I am a better man because of you. And you don't even know what you do to me, with all your dancing and your utility belt. It really is a privilege watching you grow in front of my eyes. Misa, my heart and soul...

I don't think I've ever told you this but I've had a crush on you ever since we started the Academy all those years ago. I was so closed off that I would never even think of telling you, but at night I would go into my room and daydream about you and it would carry into my dreams, I couldn't wait to go home and dream about you all the time, until we started dating and we kissed for the first time in Nakano shrine like a bunch of naughty kids and my father caught us, I knew that I didn't have to dream anymore because for the first time in my life, reality was better than my dreams" he whispered; Misaki could feel the tears in her eyes at his words feeling touched. She had never known this about him.

"You're right Misa; I have changed for the better because of our relationship, there's a lot that I've learned about myself just by being with you. I didn't even know that I was capable of falling in love. You just hit me so hard when I fell in love with you; I didn't understand it…That's why… I just hope that you can forgive me…" he said squeezing his eyes shut.

"I already have. I know that you've been stressed lately but it's something we can both overcome"

"That's not what I mean baby…I'm so sorry for what I put you through" he said wrapping his arm around her neck to bring her forward and kiss her head.

"Listen, can you please promise me one thing?" he asked gazing into her warm eyes.

"What's that?"

"Promise me that no matter what happens to us, you will understand that…I love you. And, that I do everything that I do _because _I love you and for your own good and safety"

She looked at him and the sincerity in his dark shiny onyx eyes.

"I promise"

"Thank you. Now let's get out of here"

They both got out of the sunken bath and dried themselves while Itachi put his white robe back on. He led her back to the front of the house where he turned to her again. She looked up at his glorious face taking in every detail. Itachi stroked her face with what felt like a trembling hand on her skin.

"You're so beautiful Misaki I can't understand it" he whispered shaking his head.

Misaki felt like her heart was breaking; she could have sworn that she'd heard his voice shaking slightly. What could be wrong with him? He cupped her face in his hands and leaned in to kiss her. Misaki stretched upwards slightly to reach his face. Slowly he came closer to her face until his breath tickled her neck and sent heat waves surging through her with every sensitive nerve in her body screaming. When their lips met it felt different somehow; it felt soothing and comforting unlike the distant and closed off Itachi. He kissed her like he had never kissed her before. It was slower, tender, emotional and most importantly-vulnerable. She finally felt like she was breaking down the wall he had between them.

He held each of his kisses on her mouth lingering every second; savouring every second. Misaki could have sworn that she felt a hot salty tear trickle down his face and into her mouth. When she drew back to break away from the kiss, he pulled her head back towards his face.

"No wait, don't stop. Please. I want to remember how this feels; the feeling of your lips and your skin" he said quietly.

They both stared at each other when she breathed softly at him. She didn't understand why Itachi wanted to remember how it felt to kiss her as he could kiss her anytime he wanted but, there was something more pressing on her mind...

It was a slow build up; it was an uncontrollable urge for more of his kisses that shot through her body. She didn't want it to stop either. They stared at each other for a few seconds, a fire in their eyes until suddenly...Itachi launched himself at her and kissed her again, this time more ferociously, rapidly and passionately. He pushed her against the wall of the house and pressed his body against hers- with them still making out. She wrapped her hands around his neck to keep him closer to her while he cupped her butt to life her up-still making out. With Itachi giving her a boost Misaki jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist while he held onto her thighs-with-kunai's-strapped on to keep her around him-with them still making out. He spun her around while still kissing her but she pulled away momentarily to throw her head up and splash her hair in the air and yell out and exclaim his name in a smile and a laugh; then it was back to his lips...The momentum of her jumping and him spinning her on his waist knocked Itachi off his balance and he stumbled backwards until he hit an outside table with a vase sitting on it and they both fell to the floor with the crash and debris of splintering wood, smashing pieces of porcelain and Misaki's hair spilling everywhere...

Once he and Misaki were on the ground and he was on top of her, he moved on to her neck where she cradled his head on her shoulder and moaned out in pleasure and gripped his hair. It was the most erotic she had ever felt. It was like he was in a race kissing her at the rate he was going while she hooked her hands inside his long hair and closed her eyes in sheer delight. He broke away from her again as his breath tickled her neck. They were both breathing heavily, with a steady slowing rhythm. It was so sensual and vulnerable.

"You know I got a tattoo of the Uchiha clan crest on my lower back" she said randomly hoping he would catch on to what she wanted.

"I want to see it" he yearned.

She turned around as he undid the belt of her robe and touched the shoulders of her semi naked body only in underwear. His touch felt like fire along with his warm breath. He slowly removed her robe and began kissing her neck. Misaki was hanging onto whatever control she had left over her unyielding hormones as Itachi Uchiha's lips on her shoulders and back was left her begging for more. Slowly he kissed all the way down to her back until he reached the Uchiha clan tattoo she had gotten earlier during the week and kissed it as well. She cupped her modest chest with the big sleeves of her robe to cover them up. He pulled the robe back up to her shoulders. He was breathing heavy too… She had never seen him this side of him. They looked at each other acknowledging their most intimate moment ever and smiled feeling slightly surprised at what had just happened, they didn't realise that they could lose control like that. Itachi still feeling a little heated, tried to snap back but she tried to pull him back.

"Itachi, I'm addicted to you" she whispered contradicting herself from earlier and shakily clutching onto his hair as if to life itself.

"I can't live without you. Misa, I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry for everything. I don't know what to do about this"

A faint noise in the distance caught her attention. It was time to get back to reality. "Looks like your father will be coming back any time soon so I better get going. Don't worry, we'll work this out"

He looked pained at her last words. She turned to leave but he stopped her.

"Misaki?"

"Yes Itachi?" she said turning back to him. It looked like he wanted to tell her something. Something important.

"...I'm really glad that I got to spend this precious time with you. I'll see you _tomorrow_" he said with his voice breaking when he said 'tomorrow'. This immediately caught Misaki's attention. She stared at him directly in his eyes but something seemed wrong about them. His eyes showed a deep piercing pain in them. A hauntingly torturous pain and suffering that stemmed from his very soul. His eyes were crying out to her to tell her something. His eyes full of secrets.

"Itachi is there something that you want to tell me?" she asked hoping he would give her an answer, any answer; whether it was about his meeting the stranger or where he was during the assembly. She could see it in his eyes that he was keeping something from her.

When he kept quiet she took it as him not trusting her enough to tell his secrets. Feeling pained she nodded to him in understanding of what his lack of response meant and walked away from him with the image of his eyes now burned into her memory and haunting her. After putting her shoes on again she walked away and turned back to him one more time with tears stinging the corners of her eyes before walking melancholically in the rain.

Misaki got home and walked into the kitchen feeling over emotional and vulnerable. Being so physically and emotionally naked with Itachi had drained her in a somewhat pleasing she saw a family vase sitting opulently on a table next to their generations old bonsai tree. She dropped her hand inside the vase and reached for a key that her parents had slipped inside. Once she got the key she slowly walked slowly into the hallway in the opposite direction of her room. She hadn't walked there in what felt like forever. She stopped outside the darkest room in the house and unlocked it with the key she had just fished out for and opened the door. She couldn't see anything yet as the lights were off. They had been off for half a year now. She stepped inside and breathed a sigh to brace herself for switching on the lights inside her dead brother's room.

She switched on the lights. Tears burned strongly in the corners of her eyes and started to collect at the bottom of her eye. She looked around Masahiro's room with all the pictures and memorabilia decorated after he died. Pictures hanging from the walls and from shelves and of course his jonin uniform placed on a stand. She walked towards it and stroked it. Then she pressed her nose to it smelling the contents of his blue overall with the high collared military green vest. It had a musky twinge to it and slightly smelled of blood. It felt heart wrenching. Seeing him around her felt like he was really there with her. She planted herself onto his bed and cuddled in foetal position with one of the pillows.

"I wish you were here big brother to give me some advice" she said out loud. She lay there on the bed thinking, never wanting to leave…

_Six months ago…_

_Kotetsu couldn't keep her away from walking towards the mass lying on the floor. With Itachi right behind her, she looked down at the grass surrounded by leaf ninja. A body. A mangled messy body drowning in its own blood. Misaki's widening eyes looked in horror at the incomplete body of her brother. His two legs and right arm were missing from his body. His right arm was laying a few metres from his torso. Someone had maimed him. Her brother. Masahiro. Her big brother and hero. She could do nothing. She was rooted on the spot by shock and the sickening sight of a broken body drenched in red. Her unfocused eyes showed her vision swimming in front of her. Her body had no feeling… Until she let out a scream. A blood curdling scream of horror that would make hairs stand on end. She screamed. And screamed and screamed and screamed as she felt her body losing balance. She was quickly caught by Itachi and Kotetsu but not before throwing up on the ground…_

_"We have to destroy his body, especially his eyes because he was an Uchiha" said someone distantly…_

_She felt dizzy and sweaty and had trouble breathing. She had to be carried back to the leaf village on a stretcher with a breathing mask on her face..._

_...The tall and skinny dark haired young man spun his adorable little sister in the air while she laughed so hard._

_"Misakie, don't worry little sister you'll do just fine as a leaf shinobi" said a nineteen year old Masahiro Uchiha in their back garden spinning a twelve year old Misaki with his hands. _

_"But isn't it dangerous being a shinobi? Enemy ninja will always try to kill you. What if you get killed?" she said._

_"Whatever will be will be. You can't allow fear to rule your life or you stop living. You might as well never get out of bed… There's no better way to die than to do it by trying to protect those close to you including the village, that's something Shisui Uchiha said to us once. You have to always live Misaki, just make sure you don't take any second of life for granted and just live. Live Misaki live…_

Remembering what her brother had said to her all those years ago put everything into perspective. She needed to stop over thinking things, worrying about everyone else and just live how she wanted. Looking at the smiles of her dead brother reinforced his words to her. It was time to live. She had to set things straight in her life. Shisui's death, her brother's death, troubled Itachi, and keeping the secret from the ANBU. She had finally had enough. Tomorrow she would set things straight.

She noticed a shadow walk past the door and saw that it was her mother who just walked in followed by her father. They didn't say anything to her but sat on the bed embracing her and each other and lay there for a long while in silence.

Surprisingly her father Tsuyoshi Uchiha stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. She was completely taken aback by it. He smiled at her. She was speechless by her father sitting there with her.

"I'm proud of you baby girl. I just didn't know how to say it until now" he choked. If she hadn't been in the room she would've never believed it. She turned to her mother who was all too happy. The whole thing reminded her of when she was a little girl and he was her biggest champion. He really did seem to love her but in a different way and that's the only thing that mattered to her. She lay in her parent's arms until she fell asleep exhaustion taking her out for the night...


	10. Day 8: Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls

Day 8: Ask not for whom the bell tolls

The crispness of the cool early morning air in Konohagakure refreshed the lungs of one Misaki Uchiha who woke up just before the sun peaked over the Hokage Mountain. The early morning birds sent a cacophony of whistles and noises echoing through the valley and the ever lightening sky pronounced the colours of the Japanese garden and burnt orange trees that stung Misaki's honey eyes with its beauty. She couldn't remember the last time she stopped to freshen her mind in nature.

The long white kimono she wore with its long sleeves dragged on the damp grass that cooled off her bare feet as she picked some bright flowers from the beautiful garden and bound them together to form a bouquet. Her peace of mind now far outweighed all the thoughts, feelings and emotions she had experienced throughout the week. Remembering her brother last night, her father finally showing his caring side and her intimate day with her boyfriend had helped put things straight for her. No more worries. With the bouquet done she set off to a house a short distance away from hers. It was the right thing to do.

She walked up the stairs to the main entrance of the house and knocked twice on the door. A minute later the door opened to reveal the man clutching his wife's shoulders for comfort, both he and the woman looked at her with sorrow in their eyes. She knew the grieving eyes of parents all too well. She bowed and held out her arms of the flower bouquet to them beckoning them forward to accept her gift.

Kagami Uchiha and his wife looked at each other in surprise; they weren't expecting to receive a gift of condolence at sunrise. They both turned back to her and the woman stepped forward to take the flowers from Misaki and give her a hug. Shisui's mother supported the testament of the kind nurturing nature of Uchiha women.

"I promise it'll get better, take it from me" Misaki said.

"Thank you so much Misaki" whispered Shisui's mother while a pained Kagami bowed to her. Misaki bowed to him and bade them goodbye and good luck. They had a long and arduous journey towards healing from the sudden and unexpected death of their only son Shisui Uchiha…

Misaki walked back to her home and picked some more flowers along the way through the Uchiha clan as she was not done yet. There was one more stop she needed to take. She left the Uchiha clan area and walked out to the training grounds where she and Itachi had sparred just days earlier. When she got there the sun was already up warming the day and stretching over the Hokage Mountain. She reached the clearing at the training grounds to get to the Konoha memorial stone dedicated to all the shinobi killed in action. But unfortunately when she arrived, she found that someone was already there...

Kakashi 'the copy ninja' Hatake was standing at the foot of the memorial stone staring at it and standing very still. Growing up she'd heard stories about 'the copy ninja's' ability to utilize the sharingan he'd gotten from someone in her clan. She'd also heard that he came here every day but why she wasn't sure. She really didn't want to disturb him during such a personal time so she waited; but luckily he didn't make her wait for too long.

"If you want to come to the memorial stone, you can come now because I'm going to be here a while" he said. She walked up to the memorial stone surprised that he'd seen her in the first place and stood next to the silver haired elite ninja. She looked at him from the side and saw that he didn't take his eyes off the stone.

"Is it true that you come here every day before sunrise and stay for a long while after? To visit the memorial stone I mean?" she asked him.

"It depends who you ask I suppose. Some might say that I get lost in the path of life or help an old lady with groceries, or a black cat crossed my path"

She quietly chuckled at herself not really understanding what he meant by that. She looked back at the stone and scanned the writing of all the names etched onto it. Until she found the name she was looking for:

"Uchiha, Masahiro"

Seeing her brother's name stirred up the emotions inside her. She ran her fingers over the engraving of his name and bent down to kiss it. Then she stood up and placed the second bouquet of flowers on the stone and said a silent prayer. When she was done she stood back up to stared at the name.

"Uchiha Masahiro huh. You don't happen to be his younger sister? The only female ANBU black op right now?" asked the copy ninja.

"Well yes to the first question but I'm not so sure about the black ops thing. I might have to leave the ANBU for another offer to master genjutsu from a specialist"

"Sounds like a good idea to me" he said

This gave Misaki a thought. "Wait a second; Kakashi-san I've heard that you were also an ANBU black operative once, isn't that so?" he nodded.

"So it's possible to leave after all; but wasn't it difficult for you? I mean you lose your high level ninja ranking"

"Working with the black ops is rigorous as you well know but it's also rewarding in its own ways. Also, being in such a high position means your chances of moving on up are limited as ANBU is the highest ninja rank apart from being a Kage. But leaving, as difficult a decision as it is, doesn't mean downgrading your ninja rank; it only means you're attempting to enhance your skills to break that glass ceiling you find yourself reaching. I left for my own personal reasons and you should too only if you think it's best for you. You'll be allowed back on the team if you work hard and are stronger than another more advanced ninja from another generation taking your place"

It made so much sense to her what the copy ninja just said. It wasn't doing any good to stay in the black ops if she wasn't improving herself even with the difficult ANBU training sessions. Feeling slightly confident now about her decision she smiled at herself thankful that she'd ran into the copy ninja.

They both stood in silence taking their time to think about their loved ones until Misaki spoke to him again.

"By the way, how are your new graduated genin students keeping with you?"

"I don't have any graduated genin students to train this year. They failed my 'bell test' just like all the others before them so I have yet to find a trio that has passed"

"Again this year as well? This bell test sounds difficult. At least you haven't lowered your standards even if no one has ever passed. Maybe I'll try it one day. But don't worry, somewhere at the Academy there will be a generation of three kids who will pass your bell test and become your new students" she said laughing lightly.

"I hope so…By the way, what is your name again?"

"Uchiha Misaki" she said to him as he smiled under his mask and nodded. She then bowed to him ready to leave.

"Well it was nice talking to you 'copy ninja' san. Thanks for the insightful advice. See you around" she said turning to leave as he waved back and pulled out a curious looking orange pocket sized book. It really was one of life's true pleasures for her to have a random conversation with a somewhat stranger.

With the sun up hitting noon and Misaki done with her refreshing morning, she decided to go home before going to the Konoha police station later for her duties on finding out more information about the imposter ninja from last week.

When she got home, she sat on the roof of the house overlooking the whole of the clan including old man Uchiha feeding his pets. She took out her trusted tiny white diary that she wrote down all the important events and emotions that had happened to her for the past two days and especially wrote in great detail of her intimate day with Itachi the previous day. Afterwards she took a deep breath and opened a new clean page to start writing and reflecting…

"_Dear: diary_

_This week has been nothing but long and harrowing and exciting at the same time. I got to attend my first ANBU meeting-without my boyfriend and party with my friends. But the death of Shisui shocked my world. I have a feeling that I will never fully understand what happened to him but that's not the point. Admittedly it's because of his death that I fear for my clan as our numbers dwindle to a handful, we've lost so many a great people in this clan and I don't know what the future will bring for us Uchiha._

_Speaking of, as much as I've been worrying of Itachi, I still feel confident that we'll get closer to each other so I can help him overcome the pressure he faces that could be changing his behaviour. I love him so much that I want to be with him. Forever. Curiously though yesterday he did say that he wanted to remember the feeling of my lips but I can't understand why, since he could always do that when he wants to…Strange one that Itachi._

_Lastly in terms of moving on, I have decided to accept the apprenticeship of Kurenai Yuhi and master genjutsu. I want to be as exceptional at the jutsu as Shisui was in honour of his memory. This means that I might have to leave the ANBU black ops for a while but we'll see. I'm glad that I got some clarity from the copy ninja today. I'll have to talk to Captain Ichiro and the hokage about it tomorrow. It feels so good to be moving on up in life…_

_Xoxo _

_Mi"_

She closed the tiny white diary containing her soul. She went back to her room to place it under her pillow and walked out to the kitchen to eat some of her mother's delicious home cooked food.

"So momma, I've decided to take the opportunity to learn genjutsu from the specialist jonin Kurenai Yuhi. I sent her a letter early this morning via messenger bird later" she said eating.

"Really! Oh Misaki I'm so happy for you baby girl" she said sitting at the same table. "It's nice seeing you grow and mature in your shinobi life. Your father and I will be supporting you all the way"

"Yeah how about dad last night? It was so unexpected" she said.

"He saw that you were in pain over your brother and wanted to comfort you. I told you that you just needed to be patient with him" she said mockingly shaking her finger at her daughter.

"I guess that I couldn't see that. But I appreciated it" she said honestly.

"I'm glad you did honey. We seem to be on a great path to healing"

"Well I'd better get going, I have to go to the Konoha police station for some information on a case" said Misaki wolfed down the rest of her food, kissing her mother goodbye and leaving the house to the police station.

Konohagakure looked so beautiful during the afternoon; she loved watching people going about their day. It made her want to work harder at her ninja job to protect them. As she walked to the police station and walking past people she saw every day from her own Uchiha clan, she waved at them and they waved back at her; it gave her a sense of happiness. The widening smile growing on her face inspired a playfulness inside of her. She pulled the tight braid out her hair and shook her hair free. She let the wind catch her hair in between its fingers and toss it to the sky. She let the wind grab onto her flowing robe and force itself into the wide sleeves and pull at the bottom train of the robe. It felt sensational.

Misaki was so busy enjoying the breeze and looking at the sky that she didn't see that someone was in front of her and only realised that she had bumped into a little boy when it was too late.

"Ouch lady! Watch where you're going!" came a loud voice from below her. Misaki looked down to see the young blond jinchuriki boy with the nine tailed fox sealed inside him who attended the Academy that she'd been profiling for the person of interest files for the hokage. He was standing next to Sasuke who had a satisfied look on his face. The jinchuriki boy rubbed his head painfully and looked up at her with a scowl on his cute whiskered face.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you. But why are the two of you standing in the middle of the street anyway. You weren't fighting were you Sasuke?" she asked.

"He started it! Sasuke is always being a jerk!" yelled the blonde haired boy shooting an accusatory point at Sasuke. Talking loud seemed to be a trademark of his.

"Shut up you loser, nobody wants to hear your loud annoying voice" whined Sasuke broodily folding his arms.

"Oh yeah! Well-

"Say kid what was your name again?" she asked the blond boy hoping to quieten his loud talking. The blond boy gave her a dazzling wide smile and shot his thumb in the air.

"I'm NARUTO UZUMAKI and one day I will become hokage!" he shouted. Misaki smiled to herself remembering those words and writing them down about him when she was still compiling his file. Seeing the rivalry of this Naruto and Sasuke made her laugh, she wished that she could still be that young and innocent. She bowed to them both and left for the Konoha Military Police Station as the two boys came at each other the moment she was gone.

The Konoha Military Police Station was as busy as ever with members of the force hard at work uncovering the truth's hidden in the village especially working on the case of Shisui's death. Misaki walked inside the station at mid-afternoon to the receptionist who was her brother's long-time friend and colleague when he was alive.

"Hello Aiko Mizuno" she said smiling to her and beating a drum roll on her desk.

"Misaki! Long-time no see! Are you on duty?" said the surprised brown haired woman looking at Misaki's lack of ANBU uniform.

"Not exactly. I'm off duty but I've actually come here for some information on a case I'm working on"

"Really, what information is that?" asked Aiko

"I don't have it with me now but I wanted to find out; have you ever seen a red cloud outlined in white on a black cloak? I found it on a cloak that an imposter inside our village was wearing last week. I think it might symbolise something"

Aiko thought about it for a while then shook her head. "Sorry it doesn't sound familiar, but if you're looking for symbols, you can look in the organised crime bingo books. It's mostly gangs who use symbolic references to represent their identities and ideals"

"Okay thanks Aiko, see you in a bit" she said walking to the classified information room that only black ops and jonin had access to. She was hoping to find something listed in a bingo book which contained information on notorious rogue ninja and criminals...

Misaki was busy through late afternoon searching relentlessly through the many bingo books under the heading of organised crime but nothing came up about the strange red cloud. Only after searching for several hours and the sun starting to slowly dim in the background did she notice something peculiar about one of the bingo books.

She looked at the bottom of the double sided pages to see the page numbers go from 68, 69, 72, 73…There was a page missing in the book. She looked carefully at the pages and noticed that the jagged edges left behind in the middle meant that a page had been torn out.

"Hey Aiko, did you know that there's a page missing from one of these bingo books? It looks like it was torn out purposefully" she said taking the book to the front for Aiko to see.

"Hmmm that's strange. I'll have to send it in to Chief Fugaku Uchiha to inspect but he already left for home for some reason. Sorry Misaki, guess it means that you'll have to come back and look when it's ready again"

Misaki gave a slightly frustrated sigh; it seemed that the red cloud would remain elusive to her once again but she didn't want it to get to her. "Okay thanks for your help Aiko, it was nice to see you again" she said leaving the Konoha Police Station.

With the sun dimming into early evening and with her realising that she'd spent way too long at the police station Misaki headed into the village to get some food at a food stall.

She arrived at a ramen noodle shop and waited in line for an open seat when someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away but, she was all too ready for it. She flipped over her captor and landed behind him, grabbed both of his hands into her one hand behind his back, place a kunai underneath his chin and pulled him backwards.

"Wait, Misaki; I have something for you!" said Izumo gasping in pain.

"Izumo, what are you doing sneaking up on ninja. You should know better than that!" she joked letting him go.

"I'm sorry Misaki but I didn't want anyone to see us. I have something that you need to see but I had to steal it" he said.

"You stole something? As a chunin you could be placed on probation for stealing something, depending on what it is" she lectured.

"I know I know, but it's not like I didn't have a good reason. I found this letter, it's the suicide note from Shisui, he must've wanted to give it to someone but he didn't have a chance"

Misaki observed the neatly folded scroll paper letter; it was definitely Shisui's beautiful calligraphic kanji writing of course but there was something strange on the corner of it. It looked like a smudge.

"So why did you have to steal it? You're defeating the ends of justice if you stole it from anywhere where the investigation into Shisui's death is taking place" she said serious faced.

"That's the thing Misaki, I stole it because, it was from Shisui addressed to whoever finds it… but I found it in Itachi's mission schedule file at ANBU headquarters in the Hokage building" he whispered so they wouldn't be overheard by people lining up at the ramen shop.

"What! Are you telling me that you stole Shisui's suicide note from Itachi's file?" she asked hit by a shock. Izumo nodded.

"I noticed it sticking out of his file and took it because he was supposed to have handed it in to the black ops Captain Ichiro"

"Oh my God Izumo…he knows…Itachi already knows" she said staring absent mindedly at the letter. She could feel the worry she had worked so hard to remove creeping back inside her.

"What! How do you know?" said Izumo also starting to worry.

"This is Itachi we're talking about. Nobody steals from Itachi Uchiha without him knowing…this is bad Izumo, you could really get into trouble for this"

"I don't care, I did the right thing. He wasn't supposed to keep Shisui's suicide letter with him. Look since you already have it, why don't you go and have a look at it" he said confidently.

"You're right; I should go and have a look at this. We can't return it now or we'll get busted for stealing" she said. She said her goodbye to Izumo and skipped out on eating at the ramen shop.

Misaki hurried back home to the Uchiha clan as dusk arrived determined to examine the suicide note. The chill of the night started settling in with the wind picking up and biting at her skin. She walked in long strides in her loosely tied ivory kimono and her black hair hanging down straight at her sides to her waist. A short distance before entering the clan walls, she walked past nearby merchant fast asleep selling clocks that began ticking loudly in her ears and with the rhythm of every step she took…

When she walked inside the clan walls she stopped abruptly and looked around. The place was deserted. Nobody on the usually bustling main street of the clan where parents should have been returning from work, neighbours should be chatting and other Uchiha people generally walking about. The only people not expected at that time were the Uchiha children attending The Academy who still had just over an hour left of school for the day. It was highly unusual. But she brushed it off as she was in a hurry to examine the suicide note.

Misaki continued walking to her house when a flash of something in the moonlight caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She turned around to look at the torii or red gate at the entrance of the sacred Nakano shrine of the Uchiha clan nearby. She could have sworn that she'd seen something standing on top of it but there was nothing there now…until the silhouette of a bird flew down and sat on the red gate. It was a crow. The unnerving sight of a black crow sent chills down her spine as she hurried home feeling uneasy.

The moment Misaki dashed into the house she noticed that it was quiet. She looked around the house throwing open all the fusuma panels but it was empty. Her parents weren't there. It was bizarre to her because at that time, her mother would be in the kitchen preparing dinner while her father would be busying himself in his study. They had never been away from the house at that time without telling her first...something about the quietness of the house spooked her especially after seeing the scary black crow and the quiet street. In the meantime she decided to go to her room to inspect the suicide note while she waited for her parents to come home.

Sitting at her desk she placed the suicide note in front of her and switched on the desk lamp to properly read it. Shisui had written his sincerest apology for being weaker than he'd imagined and that he couldn't carry on his duties for the clan anymore because it was too much for him, and hoped he hadn't let the clan that was 'his lifeblood' down…It was so unbelievable and heart breaking to her that he would ever kill himself.

Misaki opened her desk drawer to find an old letter that Shisui once wrote to her. She found one lying underneath a picture of her brother and compared the handwriting. It was exactly the same as expected. But, she still wanted to know why the letter had a tiny ink smudge on the front so she held it up to the light of the desk lamp and scrutinised it. It appeared that someone had scratched over a word on it that could be crucial to the investigation of his death. Luckily she knew just the right jutsu to help her. She held her finger on the ink smudge and pressed down hard then held two fingers in front of her face.

"Ninja art: back-to-the-past jutsu!" she said and a puff of smoke erupted from the sheet of paper to reduce it back to its original form. The ink smudge evaporated to reveal what it had been covering. She could feel her heart beating in nervous anticipation.

Misaki looked at the kanji word on the piece of paper. She realised that it wasn't a word but rather…a date. She looked carefully at it. But something about the date written on it made her heart skip a beat. It was the date that the letter was written…

A day after Shisui's death…it made sense…the letter was found on Shisui's person the day he was discovered in Nakano River after dying on the ANBU assembly day according to the post mortem. Someone must have written the letter and somehow stuffed it in the clothes of his dead body lying in the river using some jutsu a day after he died…but the handwriting was perfect; which could only mean one thing…

She gasped out loud when she realised it, the only explanation…someone must have killed Shisui Uchiha by drowning him in Nakano River and used sharingan to forge the suicide letter. But how could that be? Only the Uchiha's with the exception of 'the copy ninja' possessed such powers…Misaki felt a frightening worry engulf her body. She had to go to the hokage at once and tell him of the evidence.

"BANG! BANG! BOOM! CLANK! SCREEEEAAAMM!"

A thunderous explosion of screaming and chaos stung the quiet and still night outside Misaki's house….then stopped as suddenly as it had come. The heart stopping noises made her jump up startled and run to her bedroom window to see what the outside commotion was all about. The last time somebody had screamed-Shisui had been found dead.

But there was something wrong…really, really, wrong. Strange. She grabbed onto the curtains covering the window to pull them open but they wouldn't open. Her curtains wouldn't open… She couldn't understand it; curtains were made from soft fabric, it should be too easy to pry them open but they just wouldn't. Desperation to know what was going on outside sparked panic inside her; she then realised her parents weren't home yet…

Misaki tried not to let the mounting panic stress her; a shinobi should never panic under stress, it clouds their judgements. She quickly headed for the fusuma panel door of her room to slide it open…but once again it wouldn't open…

She stood back for a moment in confusion to stare at the door then tried once again to open it but it wouldn't open. She couldn't begin to fathom what could possibly be going on and fear was threatening to drive her insane.

Her panic was rising; the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own furiously beating heart and quick breathing. Beads of sweat formed on her head…She ran up to her wall and seized her katana and a kunai to try and wedge the door open. Then she tried kicking and punching the door open. No matter what she did it wouldn't slide open. Feeling frustrated and panicky she stepped back breathing hard and threw her weapons on the floor. That's when a frightening thought crept inside her head…Was it possible that she was under a genjutsu? It was the only reasonable explanation as to why her curtains and doors wouldn't open. It would at least be a start… she breathed hard to calm herself down so she could close her eyes and smack her hands together to overpower any chakra that could be controlling her mind.

"Release!" she said and the room immediately swam in her eyes then went back to its normal state. So it had been a genjutsu after all. But why?...who?...

She slowly walked up to the door and took another deep breath before slowly sliding it open with ease this time. She carefully peeked out of her bedroom and took a few steps out and looked up. Her heart gave a startled jolt when she saw that she wasn't alone in the house after all. Someone was standing in the kitchen of the house staring at her, waiting for her to come out…

Itachi.

He was standing still and silently in the kitchen in the shadow of the outside moonlight from the window, his skin a ghostly pale, watching her, unblinking and stoic. He was wearing his ANBU black ops uniform and leaf headband...

When Misaki saw that it was her boyfriend standing in her kitchen she stared at him in surprise. She hadn't expected it to be him. It was the middle of the night so he didn't have any reason to be there and she'd just been placed under a genjutsu. She slowly glided into the hallway in her white kimono towards him, step by step, slowly and stopped when she reached the kitchen wall and stood in front of it. For some reason, she couldn't drop her guard when she got to him.

"Itachi, what are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice sounded strange and unwelcome in the unnatural quietness.

"I came here to see you" he said in the most expressionless and blank tone of voice. It sounded like he was forcing himself to remain blank and distant.

Misaki stared straight into his dark shiny eyes and pressed her hands to her chest, feeling guarded. There was something different about his eyes. No scary. Something off...something unkind and biting and cruel. They were cold, shut off, empty…the light was missing from his eyes like he had no soul. But that was not as terrifying as the way in which he looked at her. The intensity of his _sharp_ glare…he looked at her like she was his prey; his gaze was piercing her, stinging her inside. But there was something _else_ about them. It looked like he was hiding something behind his eyes; like he had locked any emotion behind this front he had on his face. It caused her whole body to tremble to the point that she couldn't even move.

"Wha-why did you need to come and see me" she said unable to look away at his gaze. Her blank mind searched for answers as to what could be happening. Why was Itachi looking at her like he had venom coming out of his eyes?...it dawned on her that she was feeling an emotion that she had never felt around Itachi-fear.

"I want to know why you're so weak. Why, as a shinobi do you allow emotions to play a part in your decisions?" he asked.

She felt the cruel sting of his words cut her like ice inside. He'd never referred to her as weak before.

"I don't know what you mean. Why would you say that to me?" she said hurt.

"Many people have speculated that I'm untrustworthy time and time again yet you wouldn't even allow yourself to contemplate it. Your feelings for me stopped you from considering what everyone said" he said in his blank voice.

"That's because I told you that I trust you and I do" she said though she couldn't be sure at that moment.

"Is that why you didn't tell anyone when you were spying on me that you caught me talking to a wanted imposter in the forest last week?"

Bomb! The shock hit her like a bomb and made her heart beat dangerously too fast. So he had known about her spying on him last week talking to the imposter after all but he hadn't said anything to her. Nothing. Misaki stood frozen where she was.

"You knew that I was spying on you-Why didn't you say anything to me Itachi?" she said frozen.

"Because I knew that I didn't have to. I knew that you wouldn't tell anybody or confront me about it because of how you feel about me. You didn't do anything about it and I knew you wouldn't"

She was dumfounded, Itachi knew that she wouldn't get him into trouble when he broke shinobi rules. He had taken complete advantage of her trust and loyalty. Painfully she realised that this was not the Itachi she had grown up knowing. The person standing in front of her was someone else.

"I can't believe you did that to me" she said softly with her lips quivering.

"Why, why Misaki would you hide all my wrongdoings from the authorities to protect me?" he asked. She could sense him trying harder to keep his emotions locked away.

"Because I trusted you. I trusted your integrity as a leaf shinobi that you had a good reason for everything you did!" she said tears stinging her eyes.

"No. You wanted me to remain be the perfect shinobi in everyone's eyes. You thought I was so closed off that I didn't have any real feelings of my own! Isn't that why you made out with Shisui!" he said raising his voice slightly.

Bomb number two! The realisation hit her like a ton of bricks and pulled the tears out from inside her eye lids and sent them sliding down her face as guilt washed over her again. Itachi also knew about her kissing Shisui, it seemed like he knew every secret she'd kept from him.

"You can't blame me for that. You were so distant and aloof most of the time when I needed comforting and he was the first one there for me" she sniffed teary eyed. She still couldn't even believe they were having this conversation.

"I expected you to be more understanding but instead sexy Misaki who can get any man she wants went behind my back to my best friend! I thought you were a decent woman but now I see that you're nothing more than a slut!" he spat.

"No, I didn't sleep with him!"

"I don't care!" he hissed. With one quick movement he dashed forward and slapped her across the face with such an impact that she fell sideways onto her chins. She let out a stifled scream before hitting the floor…

The only sound that could be heard in the entire world was of two people in a kitchen breathing shakily. Misaki sat where she was head down with her soft black hair covering her face feeling numb. She felt no awareness or sense of self after what had just happened. There were no words to say how she felt at that moment but it was real. The moment was real. Itachi had insulted her with his one scathing vitriolic word then he'd lost control of his temper and blatantly and shamelessly assaulted her with his own hand. It was inconceivable to her what was happening in the kitchen to the both of them that night. She touched her burning left cheek where she had just been hit by the man she loved and stared up at him trying to let it all sink in.

"Who are you?" she whispered finally standing up trembling with her long black hair falling down her face.

"You have no idea what your betrayal did to me" he choked in pain. It was the only time he'd allowed any of his angry jealous emotions to slip out. She could tell that what happened between her and Shisui had hurt him deeply.

"I'm sorry Itachi. I'm so sorry okay; it happened during a moment of weakness. But I fail to see how that betrayal is different to what you're doing to me right now" she whispered pained.

"I'm merely pointing out your mistakes to show you what happens to shinobi with bleeding hearts. I'm trying to help you become a better ninja. You have to learn Misaki" he said finally gaining his emotionless composure again.

"How did you find out about it anyway?" she whispered.

"What do you think Shisui told me before I killed him?"

Bomb number three! She gasped out loud and cupped her hands over her mouth and stared up at him. She would have never believed what she had heard if she wasn't there in person to hear it. His words crushed her so hard in the stomach that she felt sick. He was a different person. She realised what his words meant...Murderer. The life ruining word screamed inside her mind. The world as she knew it was slowly ending for her.

"What did you just say?" she breathed.

"It's your fault, you didn't even have the guts to ask me why I didn't attend the ANBU assembly and because of that, I got away with it. So many other Uchiha's suspected me but you wouldn't listen to them"

"It was true. She hadn't asked him directly about his whereabouts on the day and now no one but the two of them knew about the truth. She had been blinded by love to the point that it overshadowed her duties. He was right; it was her fault and yet her only sin was loving Itachi.

"But still this can't be you. You're not a murderer. Shisui was your best friend; you wouldn't betray him like this…" she said shaking her head at him.

He reached out his hand to grab her by the neck and slam her head against the wall behind her. The back of her head throbbed painfully at his head splitting attack and powerful blow with her neck tightly in his hands. Nobody would believe her if she ever told them later…Itachi was abusing her. He brought his face closer to hers so she stared into her eyes. Then Misaki saw it. The answer to all this or at least she hoped with every fibre of her being. His eyes turned to its hereditary red power tool but the shape of his iris was a four point pinwheel.

"Oh my God…you have the…is that the…the mangekyo sharingan… you killed Shisui to awaken the legendary sharingan. Then you must have awakened the curse of hatred. That's why you're acting like this. Like a bully. Itachi let me help you; I help you get rid of the curse if you give me a chance" she gasped as he let her go. Less than a handful of people in her clan had ever succeeded in attaining its dangerously omnipotent powers. Itachi didn't speak but simply looked at her, his eyes boring into hers. She made sure that she didn't look straight at them for long or she would be pulled into in the powerful visual genjutsu.

"I don't have the curse. I'm showing and telling you the truth. Speaking of the truth, you have no idea how close you were to finding out the truth before you kept quiet about what you witnessed me doing"

"What do you mean?" she whispered trying to catch her breath.

"Six months ago your brother Masahiro Uchiha was en route to the sound village to investigate and gather intelligence about the 'suspicious' village causing trouble but was ambushed by a shinobi he didn't know had allies with him. Allies with black cloaks, rings and red clouds. They were going to the very same place and didn't want any spies hanging around so they killed him" he said with his blank face. Misaki stared carefully at him wide eyed…

The shinobi who killed you brother goes by the name of Kisame Hoshigaki, phantom of the mist village and member of the Akatsuki who wear the cloaks with the red clouds. I tore out that information in a bingo book at my father's work earlier this week. Kisame used his shark sword or samehada to cut your brother up from his limbs and steal then store his chakra. He was the very same shinobi I was talking to in the forest last week…"

The very ground that Misaki was standing on was shaking in front of her. She didn't know how to process what he'd said. She struggled to breathe and to open her mouth to speak.

"No. No. Y—you knew…you kn-ew ab…my, my brother all. All, a, all this time" she stammered shaking her head and clutching the wall behind her for stability…

"You tried so hard to find your brother's killer when you were already looking him in the face. This wouldn't have happened if you'd just told someone about me meeting an imposter in the forest…"

"_No_" she slid down onto her the floor unable to keep her trembling body in balance and cowered before him. Itachi had known her brother's killer and had kept quiet about it knowing just how important it was to her. Her mind refused to process it. It was impossible. She didn't know how she would go about trying to believe it. The pain felt so physical that her heart-felt like it was seconds away from exploding. The shock and horror were unbearably agonising; she could feel it like a poison seeping into every cell and pore in her body. The realisation that he knew what he knew. It paralysed and nailed her to the ground.

"Th—this isn't you. No Itachi. No. No. No. You wouldn't do this to me…You're not like this. It can't be. I will not believe it. You don't have any reason to want to do this" she cried hard clutching her chest.

"Actually I do have a reason" he said.

She examined him with tear stained eyes and a broken spirit.

"Why. Why did you pretend that you loved me all this time when you were just playing sadistic games with me?"

"I'm not pretending. You made me a promise yesterday that you would understand"

She couldn't even remember what had happened yesterday; her mind was trying to process the mind-blowing ongoings of that evening. She examined him up and down. She couldn't tell what was worse, his violence towards her, his confessions or his blank remorseless face. It burned her inside and brought out a righteous anger. She couldn't allow herself to be a victim of his spite. She had to finally put her feelings aside and act like the emotionless shinobi that she was meant to be. No more protecting Itachi. He had committed a capital offense by murdering Shisui, a leaf shinobi comrade and ANBU, not to mention keeping the truth about her brother's death a secret, meeting with a wanted stranger and assaulting her. She stood up again still shaking and sniffed back her tears.

"My parents will be home soon so this is what's going to happen. You're going to leave, and when they get back, I will request a warrant for your arrest from the Hokage" she said breathing hard but finally calming down.

"I'm not going anywhere until I do what I came here to do" he said

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" she yelled at him in angry pain but he didn't even flinch.

"How are you going to guarantee that? How are you going to make sure that I come quietly?" he asked.

"Don't try and challenge this. What did you think was going to happen after your criminal confessions? I can't let you get away with this" she asserted in full shinobi mode taking a step towards him.

Itachi reached behind him and drew out his katana and placed it under Misaki's chin which made her stop in her tracks.

"And I can't let you go anywhere either" he challenged with the katana. Misaki looked at him outraged; there's no way he would dare…he couldn't be serious. Was he actually so desperate on getting away with his crimes that he was willing to fight her or worse? She couldn't tell…they both stood watching each other.

They had reached the highest point of escalation; Itachi wouldn't give himself up to authorities but Misaki couldn't let him escape for nothing…she gazed into his now darkened eyes and saw how serious he was. Something about his eyes now made the fight stronger inside of her that she shouldn't believe he was a bad guy; it looked like he was trying with all his will to hide regret and guilt behind this blank façade. She really wanted to believe. They had both been in love with each other for so long…and now it was possible that he was threatening to kill her…But before she could even respond, before he could even move the forceful shifting of a door behind them made Misaki jump.

Her father Tsuyoshi Uchiha and mother Reika Uchiha came rushing in shocked at the scene in front of them. Misaki's fear eased ever so slightly seeing her parents and her father's fury at Itachi.

"What is this? Itachi what the hell are you doing to my daughter? You bastard, I'll kill you if you ever touch her!" he yelled seeing the katana under Misaki's chin bruise on her cheek, dishevelled appearance and teary eyed face. Itachi remained silent and didn't move but shifted his eyes to glance at him.

"Misaki!" exclaimed her mother rushing to her daughter's side embracing her. Misaki clenched tight to her mother and buried her head in her warm shoulder. When Tsuyoshi ran to his daughter and wife Itachi tried to stop him with the katana but he shielded them by stretching his arms in front of them.

"Don't move" Itachi warned placing his katana in the air in front of Misaki's father. Tsuyoshi just stared at him with a vein in his neck visible.

"It's not very wise to threaten me boy. Lower your weapon or I'll have you arrested" he demanded through gritted teeth but Itachi didn't move.

"Daddy he's got the mangekyo sharingan, I think he's awakened the curse of hatred" said Misaki from her mother's arms finally looking up at her father stare down with Itachi.

"No Misakie. I don't think this the curse. This is something else, isn't it Itachi. What exactly is in your head boy? I know you've been up to something for a while now so tell me what it is"

"What are you referring to?"

"Do you really think that your father Chief Fugaku and the rest of us clan would overlook all the suspicions you have brought about and not monitor you ourselves, the future leader of our clan. We've been discussing you for days while I foolishly allowed you to continue seeing my daughter. We know that you planning to betray this clan but didn't figure out how you're going to do so" Misaki looked up at her father; so the clan members had indeed investigated Itachi…

"None of you ignorant people would understand. I'm so sick of all you Uchiha. Clan politics have nothing to do with me" said Itachi.

"You're lying; you have another motive for whatever you want to carry out. What is your real problem?" when Itachi remained quiet he continued. "Well whatever you're planning to do; it ends here.

"I'm not going to let anyone stop me from carrying out my duties" threatened Itachi.

"Reika, Misaki get out of here. I'll handle him" said her father. Misaki was rooted to the spot in shock of having to let her father face off with Itachi. He had no idea what he was up against.

"No dad, you can't beat him trust me. Itachi don't you dare lay a hand on my father"

"Reika get her out of here" her father yelled turning on his own sharingan while Misaki's mother tried to pull a stubborn Misaki off the floor to run away. Misaki had no choice but to do what he said. If her father just continued talking to Itachi maybe he would come back to his senses. Misaki finally stood up and grabbed her mother's hand to run down the hallway but slipped in startle when she heard a yell behind her. Both her and her mother stopped and turned around to see that Itachi had just stabbed his katana through her father's chest killing him instantly…

Misaki screamed and cried in horror as her trauma suffering mother tried to pull her up and carry her away. Somehow her unshakeable strength and determination to protect her offspring helped her drag her hyperventilating despondent daughter to the bathroom in Misaki's bedroom. When she got there she brought them both down to their knees and she took Misaki's face in hers and tried to calm her down. Misaki's hyperventilating anxiety attack stopped her from hearing anything. Her father… an excruciating pain. She would never mend the broken relationship they had only started fixing… All by Itachi…Itachi.

"Misaki, Misaki, Misaki baby please listen to me. Look at me. Don't think or look at anything else. Concentrate on my voice. It's just me" said her mother with burdening pain and tears shining her dark Uchiha eyes and slightly shaking Misaki's head to snap her out of shock.

"Listen you need to get out of here. There's something wrong with Itachi" Misaki slowly noticed that her mother's indomitable maternal instincts were keeping her from crumbling into despair from her husband's death. She was clinging onto her only reason left for living-her daughter.

"What do you mean?" she breathed looking insane.

"_Your father _(sob) told me about the Police Force's concerns about Itachi. He placed a genjutsu on us to try and stop us from interfering. I don't know where they are right now but they believe that he's going to do something awful but they didn't know what exactly it was he was going to do. What he just did now confirms it. He's willing to do anything to carry out whatever plans he has and wants no one stopping him"

Misaki sat there numb at the information.

"Listen, you have to go to Chief Fugaku Uchiha and tell him what his son has just done. Then you need to go to the Hokage and tell him that Itachi is up to something dangerous for this clan and we need help. We have to stop whatever he's planning at any cost. C'mon you need to get out of here right now. Just climb out this window" said her mother getting up and opening the bathroom window.

"Wha- what do you-I can't I can't, he'll come after me" she said frozen with tears.

"You're one of the fastest shinobi in this village Misaki you can get to them in minutes" cried her mother with her voice shaking.

"No. No I won't leave you behind. I can't"

"Forget about me, I'm not important. Misaki you and Sasuke and Itachi and all the other Uchiha children are the future of this clan. You are the ones who have to carry on this legacy. Even if it means Itachi arrested"

The bathroom door slammed open and in walked Itachi, his katana at the ready. Misaki and her mother were trapped. Reika Uchiha stood in front of her daughter to protect her from Itachi. Misaki couldn't even recognise the murderous rogue ninja standing in her bathroom anymore. He wasn't Itachi anymore-he was her father's ruthless killer...

"Itachi don't do this. If you have any morale left you would know that we will try to stop you. But I ask you to leave my baby girl alone. Please don't hurt my daughter, she's all I have left" she pleaded. It was destroying Misaki inside to see her mother begging Itachi that way. She got up and stood in front of her mother now trying to protect her.

"Misaki get out of here" said her mother but she didn't do as instructed.

"No I'm not leaving you" she said firmly.

Itachi brandished his sword at them and Reika Uchiha launched herself at Itachi trying to buy her daughter some time to flee.

"No momma!" Misaki yelled running at Itachi trying to shield her mother; Misaki couldn't let her non shinobi mother fight against the likes of Itachi never before seen with his talents. A chaotic struggle ensued. Misaki tried to grab the katana from Itachi's hands while her mother tried to block Misaki from the struggle altogether as Itachi tried to pull it away from their clutches. Itachi managed to pull back the katana and thrust it in their direction…and stabbed it in Misaki's mother's chest who let out a quick scream of shock.

The falling woman with the knife through her upper body fell sideways into the hands of the statue young girl behind her. Blood splatters flicked onto her wide eyed mouth agape frozen face. The world had finally stopped… She stood there for the longest time stupefied. Until her bloodshot eyes looked down. Misaki's slow motion frozen scream rushed out her mouth and found an escape through the tiny bathroom followed by what appeared to be a quick flash of pain flicker in Itachi's eyes.

"MOTHER, MOTHER! WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP MOMMA!" she screamed with tears bursting from her eyes while she tugged at the arm of the woman's corpse who had once been her mother. Her mother. Unendurable haunting pain. She would never hear her voice of someone who gave her life, who was her backbone or feel the comforting touch of her skin. She lay the corpse down softly on the floor in a zombie like state.

The fire. The overwhelming inferno burning in her heart was consuming her from within. Her eyes turned a deep red and her chakra a darker blue than usual as she punched Itachi who caught her fist in his hand but couldn't stop the impact of the powerful blow. The force of the punch threw Itachi straight through the bathroom wall and he slammed into her bedroom wall on the other side. He had taken her life away from her-all in a couple of minutes.

A monstrous Misaki stomped out of the bathroom to her bedroom nostrils flaring with fire and murder in her heart. She swiftly grabbed her own katana and chakra-eating bow and arrow left on the floor from earlier and got up. Seeing the picture of her brother on the wall gave her a boost of confidence. She was about to bring the katana down onto Itachi against the wall but he moved too quickly and picked up his own sword.

He swung his katana at her face and she jumped away. The fire was burning ferociously inside her like an evil demon. He swung his katana at her again but she moved out of the way to the side with her well known speed. There was no time to think. She had to defend herself from the man she loved so she overcame the paralysis caused by grief. He swung his sword at her in front of her but she fell into a split and swung at him from below as he jumped straight over clashing his sword from above with hers from below. She had to stop him for Konoha's sake then find out, after Itachi's arrest, who this 'Kisame of the Akatsuki' was.

Itachi swung at her again as she flipped herself back up and blocked it and pushed him backwards with her sword to allow herself to get out of the room. Itachi bounced back and kept coming at her swinging his katana dangerously close to her face. They both came at each other rapidly swinging and blocking each other's moves when just the day before they were kissing passionately.

The sword fighting led them to the narrow hallway of the house hindering them to fight efficiently as there was no arm space to swing their weapons and Misaki needed to get help from others outside to take him down and restrain him. She knew that he was too powerful for her alone so she blocked one of his swings and kicked him far back enough to jump to the left of the hallway and propel herself to jump out of the window of the house covering her head with her arms and katana and bow and arrow and land on the hard ground with a great thud that flung her bow and arrow away from her that echoed thought the uncharacteristically quietness of outside. Finally she was outside…

The darkness of the night was brightened by the moon providing natural light to the Uchiha clan area. The moon was very helpful in shining its light on the scene below. Without it, the horror wouldn't be able to be seen… All the other lights of that particular area were completely off and would remain so. Forever.

Misaki opened her eyes and lifted her hands used to shield the impact of breaking through the glass. She breathed hard to calm her shaking body and lifted her head still holding onto her sword. Even at that hour there were still no lights on in the area, only distant lamps from inside Konoha village. It filled her with fear. She looked around in the dark but couldn't make out Itachi anywhere so she crawled on all fours away from the house the gravel scraping harshly and abrasively against her knees and palms, but something hit her katana as she did, or rather her katana hit something…it was a hard and solid something that she grabbed onto to feel what it was. It felt like a foot…

She didn't know what to think. She got up steadily but slightly trembling and walked into the moonlight to see why it was the only light visible in the Uchiha clan area…

She turned the corner and walked forward slowly… She repeatedly turned around and around to see…something or many something's on the ground were getting closer and closer for her to see. It looked like…

Bodies, people, people, loved ones…

Dead bodies, nightmare. Uchiha's…

Dead bodies awashed, strewn, people, and littered in every direction on the ground…

Dead bodies awashed, strewn and, innocent loved…littered, nightmare…in every direction on the ground drowning in blood...

Dead bodies unreal…awashed, strewn and littered in every direction on the ground drowning in blood of all the Uchiha's…

All of the people she had ever known from her clan were lying in masses on the ground. They were lying among weapons of their own which meant they had tried to fight back. They were no more.

Misaki Uchiha felt a supernatural visceral force seize and pull the life out of her body and suck her soul out. Every one of her senses was under attack from the swimming vision in front of her and tried to block the understanding of the horrible sight from entering her mind. She was looking at the world from outside her body because she didn't have a body anymore, she couldn't have…She lost the ability to feel any emotion. Her legs acted out of their own accord and moved her non-body forward to get close to the nightmare as possible.

Her eyes peered down at the masses lying directly in front of her and scattered in every direction with blank faces and lifeless eyes all floating in blood. Old man Uchiha. A searing pain. She would never hear his wisdom and be amused by his humour. Kagami and his wife. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Innocent children. Itachi's aunt and uncle but none of his immediate family, all slain at her feet. Her knees gave way and she crumbled onto them and shaking. Barely alive. She lifted her head up to let it out. A high pitched roaring, thunderous scream that pierced the cold night air.

But suddenly a blast came from behind her. The few remaining drops of adrenaline inside turned her body around to watch a section of a very tall wall bearing the Uchiha crest slowly crumble; she watched it piece by piece of the obliterated wall fall to the floor. The apocalypse was raining from the sky that signified the end of the world. The image burned into her memory of the crest now a part of history just like her revered clan. She was witnessing the end of her family; the highly dignified Uchiha clan.

"See"

It all made sense to her now. The voice behind her made it clear. His strange behaviour, his bad mouthing of the clan, his being distantly closed off, his planning to betray the clan like the corpses of the women and man who had once been her parents had said, his pained eyes yesterday were being haunted as he knew what he was going to do to her and their clan tonight. The secrets, the absence from the ANBU assembly to kill Shisui and obtain the mangekyo sharingan, spending one final intimate day with her, the suspicions of the ANBU and the Konoha Police Force, the meeting up with the imposter. It was all because he was planning to kill them all along…

"Echoes…_Maybe you should stay away from Itachi for a while or at least until this investigation is over… I'm sorry but I don't see anything, not in your near or distant future…up to something Misaki that could be bad for you…NO I'M WARNING YOU… suffer from back pains or metaphorical back pains? Stop and take it all in, you don't know how long you going to be around_…_don't worry so much for the people behind you as for the ones directly in front of you…one thing you can always be certain of, your enemies will never be the ones to betray you_" …echoes…echoes…

She had missed the signs and warnings from people throughout the week; all because she blocked them out of love for him.

She slowly turned around to stare into the red eyes of the devil, eyes of a monster but, the eyes she wanted to hate but somehow couldn't. They stared at each other in realisation of what it all meant. There was no longer any trace of the man she once loved. She stared at him blindsided and shook her head at him in horror and disbelief her honey coloured eyes shining with blankness in the bright moonlight. Nobody but him would know the events of that night would reach the level of hell it was currently in. But there was a sudden surge of anger that threatened to burst out of her. It made her heart pump and her fist clench, giving her emotions that she'd thought were beyond her now.

"Evil and cruel Uchiha Itachi. You did this. You killed the whole clan and _my parents. _You've stripped every one of their dignity by slaughtering them like animals and leaving them to die" she cried in every kind of pain.

"Yes. I need this to make Sasuke desire to get stronger and hate me. It is also to protect this clan from itself and keep its good name just the way Shisui wanted. The Uchiha's are too powerful for their own good and the good of the village and so is their lust for power. I've placed a genjutsu on my parents and I will deal with them shortly before Sasuke comes home from The Academy. He will be the only survivor. This is best for the clan"

"IT'S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR THIS CLAN. WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE THE FATE OF OTHER PEOPLE? You've abused the same power you're trying to protect us from" she screamed. "All these people, all our innocent loved ones that we can't live without are gone! And I will not let you do this to Sasuke by killing your parents!" she cried shaking.

"This was the only way…"

It made her blood explode, he didn't realise what he'd done. She was now more prepared to kill him than ever before. With her vengeful heart pumping with fury, her eyes blinded by vicious anger, she bent down to pick up a fistful of dirt from the ground and clenched it tight.

"Uchiha Itachi. Son of the soil of the ancient and noble clan Uchiha of Konohagakure of The Fire. By the promise of our ancestors, I will write your name on this sacred soil with your blood that this clan has given you" she said throwing the dirt on the ground and turning on her sharingan feeling fired up. Itachi didn't move but looked at her waiting… until…

"Mist jutsu" she said making quick hand signs for a jutsu she had copied using her sharingan from the shinobi that she'd found out killed her brother and that Itachi had been talking to last week. Immediately the whole area was covered in dense mist and the visibility was weak. Itachi tried to escape from the mist but she cut him off as speed was one of the advantages she had and launched forward to strike him with her katana but he dodged it even in the mist. She swung at him again from his face to his hands and feet but he avoided every move or blocked them with his own sword. It was exactly the same as it had been a few days earlier when they were sparring but now it was the real thing. Life or death. She knew that there was a chance she could beat him just like she did a few days earlier.

Through the mist she grabbed his hand but he swung his katana at her fingers so she was forced to let him go. She took out her kunai and tried to stab his hand, but he was moving his hand too fast even for her sharingan to keep up, she struck, he moved his hand, she struck again, he moved his hands again and again with rapid speed. She exclaimed out in angry frustration and tried to stab his face as he didn't get out of the way. She stood there looking at him and him at her.

"C'mon Misaki, I thought you wanted to kill me. I killed your family and this clan yet you still can't kill me. I've just given you a chance. A shinobi needs to put their feelings aside to get the job done" he said blankly.

She looked at him with pained and angry teary eyes and the kunai shaking in her hand. He was right; even after all he'd done, she wasn't as prepared to kill him as she'd thought. She was so mad that she didn't have enough hate to kill him. It seemed like he was maliciously playing with her, as he wasn't fighting to his full capacity. But as one of the last surviving Uchiha's she had the responsibility to kill him and stay alive for the sake of this clan. She really needed to kill him then… but she didn't want to…

Itachi swung his sword at her. She leaned back to avoid it but it sliced a big cut along her shoulder. She howled out in pain. Now it was his turn to go after her. He grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground so that he can bring his sword down on her but she crawled away dirtying her white kimono and ran away but he caught one of her big sleeves and pulled her up. He grabbed her head and brought it inches from his to make her stare into his now pinwheel red eyes. She screamed as she was pulled into his mangekyo sharingan genjutsu…

Time was warped. The world was moving too fast or at least it seemed that way judging by the clouds and the colours of the world escaping. Everything appeared to be black and white except the fiery red sky. Misaki Uchiha looked at her black and white self. Itachi was standing in front of her… but so were the people of her clan. Her heart almost leaped out of her body when she saw them all alive again. But then she saw Itachi standing in front of them holding a katana…the Uchiha's were protecting and shielding their children and loved ones, some were trying to attack him with their own weapons in groups to defend each other, some running away… and some begging him not to kill them. But he didn't listen and sliced them across the face as blood washed over them all then blasted the remaining few away with his powerful merciless eyes. She screamed in horror as she desperately tried to help them but she was rooted to the spot…

Misaki felt her body drop to the floor as she screamed and writhed on the ground in torture after Itachi had used his mangekyo sharingan to force her to watch how he killed their clan. She lay on the ground unmoving and losing hope until she heard a faint noise in the distant.

It was the iron bell signifying that someone from the village was standing just outside the Uchiha clan walls waiting to be allowed inside. It gave eeriness to the quiet night. She wondered who the bells could be ringing for…If she could just reach the person at the bell.

"Help! Somebody help me please" she screamed in dying hopelessness.

That's when she realised-she needed to get out of the Uchiha clan area and get help outside from the village, she could call the emergency ANBU black ops telephone. She tried to run as fast as she could towards the main street leading out of the clan but she had been so drastically weakened by the effects of the mangekyo sharingan that she was far too slow to get there. She stumbled and staggered forwards to try and get onto the road and noticed Itachi was right behind her. He caught her by the waist and ran with her back to the yard outside her house filled with dead former Uchiha bodies. She managed to kick him and he let her go but only had one final attempt at getting to him.

She crawled on the ground trying to reach her chakra eating bow and arrow lying on the ground somewhere nearby. She only needed one arrow to shoot him and drain his chakra, and then it would be all over… but she couldn't find it in the dark even as the mist had since cleared because her chakra was reaching a low point but she still couldn't find it. What a waste...She clutched her painful bleeding shoulder to ease the pain and got up.

She was near exhaustion from a lack of chakra and all the horrors of the night she'd experienced and wanted it to stop. Leaning on a wall with blood splatters of her people she wondered if she should just give up. She was physically and emotionally drained. Itachi hadn't given her a moment's rest since she saw him standing in her kitchen…She could no longer hear the iron bell outside the clan which meant the only person who could help her was gone, he probably turned away as no one came to answer his bell call…If only he knew what was going on… She breathed hard and stood waiting… and waiting…no weapons but her katana feeling paralysed by everything. Everything that had happened that night had changed her life forever. How was she ever going to live after this, live past this… She had had enough and had reached breaking point. She remembered painfully her parents' faces, the faces of all the clan and felt the intense pain of having let them all down…

Itachi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and she fires her arrows at him but he kept dodging them but Misaki kept firing at him relentlessly… then Itachi came at her with his katana as she abandoned the bow on the floor… she only had a split second to make a decision and act on it… he was getting closer…before…

A katana flew into the air and swung towards Misaki's body to pierce into her right side diaphragm and stick out from her back...both her and Itachi had their hands on the sword stabbed her through her body…but Itachi's hands were over her own hands. He stared at her in shock. And took his hands off the sword to see her hands holding the hilt of the katana.

Misaki had stabbed herself in her right diaphragm with her own katana.

She pulled it out swiftly and exclaimed out in pain.

Then the blood came. It came rushing out of her body spilling itself and staining her former white kimono. She clutched the deep gushing wound trying to stop the blood pouring out and losing balance but she looked up at a stunned Itachi…

"No. N, n, no Itachi. Y-ou don't win. You ca can-n't say that you killed a, all the Uchiha's. If you're try…ing to make me hate y, you then you lo…se. You ca, can't make me ha...te you. Love is sssstronger th, th…an hate. I w-won't be like you, like a mon, monster…" she said struggling to speak. She looked in his stunned eyes before she felt her eyes droop and her body falling backwards… but before she hit the ground, someone caught her…

"Misaki, Misa?" she heard someone call her name from a distance. She opened her eyes.

Itachi was rocking her like a baby cradling her in his arms. She squinted up at him in surprise to see from the slits of her eyes, his pained and grief stricken face. He was sobbing, really and actually crying with a shaky voice in her ear.

"Itachi, why are you crying? You should be celebrating. This is what you wanted isn't it?" she whispered smiling weakly and feeling faint.

"_Don't._ Say that. I never wanted this. I had to do this to protect the clan and my family please understand (sob). I tried to think of an alternative to spare your life but it would conflict with the plan. It was the single hardest sacrifice I've ever had to make and it's tearing me apart inside. I didn't mean any of it; I would never do this to you (sob) I wanted to protect you…I'm sorry. I thought as a shinobi I could handle this but I too am ruled by my emotions. I can't do this. I don't want to live like this anymore" he whispered in her ear. She looked at him dried eyes all cried out; he was pointing a kunai at his own neck with his blood-stained hands shaking violently.

"No Itachi. I get it now, I wasn't meant to survive. But don't kill yourself. You did all this for a reason. How is little Sasuke supposed to live his life without ever having an explanation? Don't let the Uchiha's die for nothing... Give us a purpose. At least give us that" she whispered sweating excessively. Itachi cast the kunai aside and took her in both arms.

She lay there being rocked back and forth listening to Itachi's soft cries. His warm tears fell gently on her face as he repeatedly kissed her forehead. She didn't know how to feel, how was it that just a minute ago he was trying to kill her and now he was crying out in pain. He always was a strange one Itachi, right up to the end. She let go of clutching her blood pouring wound and took his hand in hers. He kissed her blood soaked hand and clenched it tight. She looked up at him in his eyes and saw that he was suffering just as much, if not more than she was. This was all by his doing. Her pain was almost over but he would have to live with his pain for the rest of his life. Now all she had to do was lie in pain and wait to die…The worst way to die. She'd never imagined what it would be like to wait for death but she wasn't afraid. She only wished that she'd taken old man Uchiha's words to heart and took time out to appreciate everything around her because she knew a shinobi life is amazing but could be brief as taught at The Academy. So maybe all psychics weren't all fakers after all.

Her slowing heart ached for poor Sasuke who was just ten minutes away from coming home to discover his life would be changed forever with Itachi having killed their parents and the clan. At least according to what Itachi had said he would remain alive. One of the last Uchiha's…Her mind drifted to what would become of the nine tailed fox jinchuriki boy she'd profiled…She would never understand why Itachi did what he did but it wasn't her problem anymore. For him he had to stop crying soon and harden his heart to do the same thing to his parents and let little Sasuke live.

"Misaki look into my eyes. She stared at the red pinwheel eyes and was drawn into his genjutsu again…

_…Long time ago a tiny boy with shiny black eyes stood next to his mother carrying another infant boy in her arms at the gathering place for all Uchiha's attending a clan meeting. He stared fixatedly at the little girl holding her mother's hand. He blushed and hid his face behind his mother's skirt when she looked at him with her big kind golden eyes. He poked his head out to glance at her and they both smiled at each other… the adolescent genius boy was now sitting alone in a classroom watching other students chatting when he saw the girl from his clan walking down the stairs clutching her books and laughing with a purple haired sassy girl, he stared at her daydreaming from a distance until she saw him staring at her and headed his way. He glance at her now sitting next to him his face blushing… the teenage boy smiled and laughed at his friend's jokes as he taught her how to throw a kunai she was so funny, but he wished he could just tell her…the older teenage boy gazed into her eyes as they both leaned in to each other and he finally kissed her in the sacred shrine only to find his furious draconian father at the same place…he looked to the side and watched his bride gliding towards him wearing a white embroidered kimono with white lace sleeves, such beauty, he took her soft hands in hers and saw his happiness reflect in her eyes as they danced together like she'd always loved…She beckoned him forward as he walked up to her in the house for leaders of the clan and stroked the soft hair of their infant boy she cradled in her arms…She ran around and laughed trying to catch her two boys playing in the lounge as he watched her happily as he joined in the chase and pretended to be slow to give his youngest son a head start until he caught the tiny boy with the dark eyes and the sacred crest on his dark blue high collar clothing and placed the boy roaring with laughter on his shoulder, he and his wife spun the boys in their arms…Itachi Uchiha held onto Misaki Uchiha's hands and led her to their favourite place to be alone, Nakano River to watch the stars just as they had been all these years as he embraced her and she rested her head on his shoulder…_

Itachi pulled her out of his genjutsu and looked agonisingly at her pale skin and felt her cold skin that caused him to cry out softly again. She was dying.

"No I disagree. It would have been one boy and one girl…" she whispered lightly teeth clattering. Itachi choked out a stifled chuckle at her. She could feel her internal organs thirsting for the blood that no longer came its way but rather out her body.

"Who knows right?" he choked.

Her breathing was slowing down so much that it couldn't support life much longer…her eyes were flickering on and off. She had lost so much blood that she knew that her body was going into hypovolemic shock. (shock caused by severe blood loss)

"Itachi I love you" she whispered and meant every word and clutched his hand tighter.

"I love you more. I will never forget you Misaki. The beauty, the blossom, my heart…

"And soul forever…

The pain was going away and, although she wouldn't see her friends again, learn genjutsu from Kurenai Yuhi as Itachi had robbed her of a future, she lay there in the arms of the man she still loved, grateful, that at least she wouldn't have to live without or long for her loved ones anymore and go to a place where her parents lie and someone who she couldn't wait to see…of course her big brother Masahiro...

The cold night wind softened its sharp breath to allow the beautiful honey coloured eyes bid its last farewell to the night sky of the village it loved to take in and allowed the light of the eyes to escape out of a lifeless body, never again to see another sunrise peering over the Hokage Mountain that had stung them with its beauty…

Itachi cried out loudly as the body of his love lie still in his arms and he stood up; he gently lay her down on a soft patch of grass with a single white rose then went to wash the blood off of himself with a hardened heart because his love was gone. Now. It was his parents Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha's turn, as Sasuke was only a few minutes away from returning home...


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"That morning, I got to the Konoha Military Police Force at eight a.m. checked in with the secretary Ms Aiko Mizuno just like normal you know; it was such an ordinary day like any other. But it took an odd turn when it hit around half past eight and we at the Konoha Police Force noticed that more than half of our force hadn't arrived for work yet as most of the force is comprised of Uchiha. It was odd; none of them had ever been half an hour late before. When it hit around nine o' clock, we were all confused as to why most of the squad including our captain Chief Fugaku Uchiha hadn't arrived yet, so all of us at the station decided that one of us should go and investigate why they hadn't arrived so I volunteered. I walked a few metres down the road to the Uchiha clan area, rang their iron bell and decided to walk in when no one answered… Nothing in the world could've prepared me for what I was about to see…Just…Bodies were scattered everywhere. Everywhere. It was a bloodbath and a scene looking like the end of a war...Just horrible…"

That was one of the non Uchiha members of the Police Force interviewed as he was the very first witness. He told of his account of finding the Uchiha's in the state they were in. He later told me that the Police Force had-early that morning before the discovery of the Uchiha's- received several complaints from Konohan citizens about loud noises they had heard the previous night but couldn't exactly pinpoint where they had come from. No one could have ever guessed…

Upon making the horrific discovery of the Uchiha clan massacre, he had alerted the Hokage and the ANBU black ops who arrived on the scene within minutes, along with the ordinary public of the village who came to witness the results of what had happened. By ten o'clock that morning, it was nearly impossible to even get close to the Uchiha clan area as hundreds of people crowded the area. The entire street was blocked by non Uchiha members of the Police Force of course, zoning off the area with yellow tape and jonin and chunin trying to keep people on the other side of the line and control the crowd to allow some space for the medical core and black ops to carry the bodies out covered in black body bags on stretchers to the medical core. It was a horrible sight; there were at least forty families of the Uchiha clan's bodies that they had to carry out; twenty one of those families had small children. There was the Hokage, elders of the leaf village, people from other villages as news spread, the black ops, representatives from other villages, leaders of the great clans of Konoha, medical core staff and curious, shocked, crying, gasping, screaming people of Konoha present. It was complete and total chaos. The black ops and medical core began the grim work of retrieving the decaying bodies when they discovered a young boy, Sasuke Uchiha lying face down on the main street alive. He was later seen as the only survivor.

The Hidden Leaf Village was nothing short of devastated as the unimaginable news spread around the village to way beyond its borders. They had mixed feelings of anger and grief and demanded answers of what happened to the innocent peoples of one of their most powerful and ancient clans. The Uchiha clan was part of Konoha's history and had played a role in the birth of the Hidden Leaf Village. It was unbelievable, such a powerful clan-gone and all in one night…

Later that week after all the death reports were done, Sarutobi Hokage decided not to have the bodies of the shinobi members of the clan destroyed, that way their friends and other loved ones could mourn them properly. Konohagakure then staged a mass funeral for the entire clan buried on their sacred home soil. People from all of the great Hidden Villages, small villages and allied nations attended the funeral. From the prominent kages and feudal lords to all kinds of ninja and ordinary folk on the street. They all came to witness the end of one of the most powerful and formidable clans to come out of the leaf village.

The body of Misaki Uchiha was discovered with a single flower in her hand and retrieved at twenty minutes to ten o' clock on that morning and taken to the medical core for examination. According to autopsy reports Misaki had died of exsanguination due to the lack of blood in her body. After her eyes were destroyed as the tradition for the Uchiha's who didn't leave their eyes to anyone, she was wrapped in a white cloth and placed in a casket. Later in the week her tiny white diary was found lying under her pillow back at home. The basis of what would become her story.

Misaki Uchiha's casket was carried by her two distraught friends Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane and a few members of the black ops team she'd been a part of to her untimely grave. The rest of the Uchiha's caskets were carried by their own close friends and volunteers from their village.

A picture of a smiling long dark haired honey eyed coloured kunoichi was placed on top of Misaki's casket before burial and during the hokage's eulogy by her best friend Anko Mitarashi who needed to be comforted by Izumo and Kotetsu as she was overwhelmed with grief, all three of them held onto each other staring at the picture of their friend they had known their whole lives. Gone forever. She was buried next to her parents Reika and Tsuyoshi Uchiha.

As for Itachi, reaction to the news that he'd assassinated his own clan and girlfriend whom he'd never been afraid to show his affection to in public shook people of Konoha to the core as he was always seen as a hardworking and noble shinobi. The news that his said girlfriend, admired and loved by the community of Konoha, had killed herself to prevent him from killing her made her story somewhat of a local hero's story here. He was immediately classified as a super 'S' class ranked wanted criminal and rogue ninja. The black ops have tried to trace his whereabouts to no avail but they're still searching. At least the organisation of the Akatsuki that Orochimaru worked with was now known by the black ops who would continue to try and find out about them...

"_Heart breaking and gut wrenching. Just plain unfair. She'll never know how special she really was to everyone" Izumo Kamizuki _

_"Itachi really didn't deserve her after all. She was the most amazing loyal person I've ever met" Anko Mitarashi _

_"She had so much love to give but she is resting in peace where nobody can hurt her anymore" Kotetsu Hagane _

_"One of the most promising young kunoichi in the world. It was a privilege to have worked with her" ANBU black ops captain Ichiro Miyake. _

_"Fantastic role model to young female ninja who meant so much to her and her to them" Sarutobi Hokage_

As for myself having done this research on her for the Konoha Chronicles I felt the need to tell her story so that people would remember the young woman who was so brave with such a fighting spirit. That is why we here in Konoha can't forget the Uchiha's and continue to tell their stories_… _

Asuka Sayako. The Konoha Chronicles publication.

XxX

Sasuke Uchiha turns the last page of the book and closes it with a final hit on its back. He stares down hard at the ground feeling the grief for his clan and his own family that the book highlighted. He stands up and hands the book back to me nodding. I take it that I passed the test. He walks to the picture of Misaki Uchiha here at the clan's memorial museum in downtown Konoha and read information about her. Nearing the five year anniversary of the Uchiha clan massacre, the museum has been receiving a lot of traffic. Sasuke reads the information written about her then he closes his eyes and clenches his fist. I can see that the thirst and the fire raging inside him for justice and revenge and killing his brother had just been amplified…for her sake…

**Disclaimer: 'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto**

**Cover Image: 'Fan Bingbing' by Ken Lee600 740, April 29 2012, **


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